Heading into the Chinese Grand Prix having already received a five place grid penalty for a change of gearbox, Lewis Hamilton is remaining relaxed ahead of Sunday’s race, despite both Mercedes drivers being outpaced by the Ferrari‘s in the second practice session.
“It’s not been a bad day.” said the defending World Champion. “I didn’t feel too comfortable with the car this morning but the team made some changes over lunch and it was much better in the second session.”
“The weather has been surprisingly warm but with a lot of wind, which made it quite difficult out there through the high-speed corners. We’re seeing already that tyre degradation will be a big factor this weekend, which is pretty normal for this circuit but definitely something to watch out for on Sunday.”
“I’ve had some amazing support here already. Every time I come to China I’m blown away by the amount of fans who come to see me. It’s only Friday and there were plenty of them over in the stands already with banners and flags, so a big shout-out to them.”
Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg was positive following the Friday practice sessions feeling that the German squad had shown good pace here in Shanghai, but at the same time being wary of the pace of the Ferrari in FP2.
“It was good to jump in the car again today and a decent start to the weekend.” said championship leader Rosberg. “The first session was compromised by the red flag – but we managed to try a few different things that worked well. It looks like we are quick here again – but in the afternoon we saw that Ferrari are also very quick, so we are definitely looking out for them and we’ll have a bit homework to do tonight.”
“I’m happy that we have the old Qualifying format back for tomorrow and really looking forward to that. I hope the fans are too and we can put on a good show for them. “
“It’s always great to be back here in China, I really like the track – but most of all it’s the people. The fans are so enthusiastic! They waited two days at the airport to see me, which is really humbling, so thank you to them.”
