Despite seeing team-mate Nico Rosberg lead the way in both free practice sessions at Silverstone on Friday, Lewis Hamilton felt he had a good but not perfect day in front of his home fans.
Hamilton saw his best time in opening practice beaten in the final few moments by Rosberg, and also suffered a brief scare when he spun exiting Stowe corner, before a mistake on his quick run in FP2 saw him finish the session only fourth behind the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.
The Briton knows he and the team have some work overnight to do to be able to get back to the top of the timing screens, with Hamilton admitting he is slightly worried about the pace of the Ferrari’s this weekend so far and understands that if they do not find that extra pace they may become vulnerable from an attack from the Scuderia.
“It’s generally been a good day,” reflected Hamilton. “Not perfect – and we’ve got some work to do overnight – but the pace is decent.
“I didn’t have the ideal balance on the long runs and I’ve got a bit of work to do on set-up. But otherwise it’s all been good.
“The tyres feel strong – it doesn’t take too long to warm them up which is a positive. I’ve also gone back on clutch set-up, which feels really good so far – just like it did in the first few races. So, overall, it’s looking like a positive start.
“Saying that, Ferrari look strong again here and they were right there with us today, so it should be a good battle. Hopefully we’ll find a bit more tomorrow otherwise we could find ourselves in trouble.
“I have to say, the fans have been fantastic this weekend already. The level of support is just incredible – and it’s only Friday! Fortunately the weather has been good so far and I hope it continues that way for everyone out there cheering us on.”
