Lewis Hamilton was unable to outdo his Mercedes AMG PETRONAS team-mate in either of the Friday practice sessions, finishing in fourth place during FP1 and third at the end of FP2, a session Nico Rosberg topped.
Having received a new turbo, as well as a newly designed MGU-H, which had been the source of the Briton’s early exit from qualifying in both China and Russia, the current world champion was hopeful of some much improved performance here in Spain.
However, Hamilton was unable to find the right set-up in the W07, which he pushed to the limits on occasion at the Barcelona track, and will look to find that balance ahead of tomorrows final practice session and qualifying.
“I struggled with the car balance through the day and this afternoon in particular it felt really tricky to drive,” said Hamilton. “I had traffic on my quick lap, so the lap times don’t tell the full story, but it’s clear we have plenty of work to do this evening to get the car driving like I want it to.
“But we will get our heads down this evening, work through the data and I’m confident we can pull things around for tomorrow. “
Having lost valuable points to his team-mate at the last two races, Hamilton really needs to get the better of Rosberg here in Spain if he is to have a chance in the title race. With thirteen of the last fifteen races at the Circuit de Catalunya having been won by the man on pole, it is essential that the Brit optimises his performance tomorrow in order to come out on top.
