Reigning World champion Lewis Hamilton was happy after the opening day of pre-season testing with the Brit topping the timesheets at the end of day 1.
The six-time World Champion took over the driving duties of the new W11 from Valtteri Bottas for the afternoon session, clocked up 94 laps on his way to set a time of 1:16.976 and with it the fastest overall lap of the day.
Hamilton said that the team would continue to work hard throughout the first week of testing as they chase their seventh constructor’s championship in a row.
“It’s been a good day and a really good start for all of us, considering we had a long break,” said Hamilton. “So to come back and clock in over 170 laps just shows how hard everyone has been working over the winter.
“We will just take it one step at a time, getting good feedback from the car. We have a lot of data to download and analyse and we’ve got to keep pushing on.“
Hamilton also thanked his team’s efforts back at the Mercedes factories in Brackley and Brixworth over the winter period with the Brit urging his team to keep clocking the miles over the next couple of days of testing.
“A huge thank you to everyone back in Brackley and Brixworth for the incredible effort that’s gone in over the winter to make sure we come here and have a car that’s reliable to start with so we can get this mileage done.
“I hope everyone back at the factory is happy with how the day went and we’re just going to keep churning out as many miles as possible.”
