Hamilton Says Mercedes Have Solved Graining Problems after Friday Practice

Lewis Hamilton is happy with his efforts in FP1 and FP2, as he topped both sessions and showed no signs of the tyre problems Mercedes faced in winter testing.

Hamilton was the only driver to dip into the 1:23s as he set a 1:23:9 in FP2.

Mercedes were hit by graining on the softer compound tyres in Barcelona, but they appear to have arrested these problems as both Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas ran well on the ultrasoft tyres.

Hamilton said: “We started on the right foot today, we got through everything we needed.

“It closed up a little bit in FP2 in terms of the gap between us all, but that’s exciting.

“It’s more challenging for me to try and eke out a little more from the car.

“The tyres definitely didn’t seem to have the same issue that we had in Barcelona where they were blistering, so it felt a lot more normal.”

Hamilton also commented on the weather forecast, which is showing rain for Saturday and possibly Sunday: “It’s going to rain tomorrow and on Sunday as far as I’m aware. I’ve not driven in the rain yet on these tyres, so that’ll be interesting.”