After another day of splitting the driving duties between their drivers, the Mercedes AMG PETRONAS duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg completed a combined 164 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya, emphasising once more the impressive reliability the team have showed so far.
Hamilton took control of the W07 during the morning session, and completed 73 laps, ending the day second fastest behind Valtteri Bottas, and believes the strength within the team is even stronger this season, even though he feels the team still have some work to do performance wise ahead of the new season.
“Reliability is our strength at the moment,” said Hamilton. “The strength within the team has grown even further. It’s really motivating for the season.
“The car was good, quite strong, we did some lower fuel running today but some work needs to be done balance wise. Getting onto the softer tyre was a good experience but we’ve got some work to do still.”
Team-mate Rosberg was in the car during the afternoon session, and completed a different programme during his 91 laps, ending ninth fastest after a race simulation of the opening race of the season in Australia that takes place later this month.
“It was another useful day of testing,” said Rosberg. “I did a full Melbourne race simulation and I feel well prepared now for the first race.
“The team have done a great job so far both in the factory and here on track. The car feels great out there and I haven’t had a major problem yet. I hope this will continue for the last two days.”
