Lewis Hamilton was unable to maximise his time in the W09 Hybrid on Monday as the weather conditions restricted him to just twenty-five laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport driver ended up sixth fastest, 2.148 seconds behind pacesetter Daniel Ricciardo of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, but despite the limited running, the reigning World Champion said it was nice to shake off the cobwebs after three months without taking to the track.
Hamilton, who will start day two on Tuesday in the car before he hands over to team-mate Valtteri Bottas in a role reversal of day one, said the initial feelings of the 2018 halo-shod car were positive, but he is still waiting for the opportunity to push the car to its limits.
“It’s great to be back in the car after three months off, but unfortunately we didn’t get the chance to complete many laps today owing to the bad weather,” said Hamilton.
“The track was very cold in the afternoon, meaning it was tough to get any sort of heat into the tyres. The tyres weren’t really working in these temperatures, so I could not get a real feel for them.
“I didn’t really get the chance to push in the car and go up to top speeds as the conditions were so bad. It’s hard for me to say a whole lot about the car because I did not drive it for a long time, but the initial feeling is good.”
