Lewis Hamilton ran his first race simulation of pre-season testing on Wednesday, with the Briton taking over the running of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team W08 in the afternoon session and completing 95 laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The former World Champion revealed that the test has gone well for the team so far, and they have ticked off a number of items on their to-do list, with one day of this test to go on Thursday, although he expects next weeks test to be more representative of what Mercedes are capable of.
“It’s been a great test so far for the team,” said Hamilton. “Everyone at the factory has worked so hard to build a car that goes the distance. As always on these test days we’re trying to get through as much as possible, in terms of reliability.
“The main thing is I got my first race run done today with no problems at all. Everything’s worked well, which I’m happy about. The car is running smoothly and we’re just running through set-up items to tick off boxes at this stage.
“This is testing, so on the first week you never chase times. When you bring out a new car you don’t have all of the components to be able to switch and make changes and work through everything you want to do – that’s something that filters through over the days. Next week we should have a better opportunity to dial in the car, but for now we’re focusing on mileage.”
Hamilton revealed that new team-mate Valtteri Bottas is settling well into the team, and is happy with the feedback that is coming from the other side of the garage.
“Valtteri is doing a great job so far,” said Hamilton. “His feedback seems solid, he’s working great with the team and transitioning in smoothly.”
