Hamilton suspects Russell of playing with his car: "Didn't feel the same"

After a week of absence, Lewis Hamilton returned to Mercedes today. The seven-time world champion had get rid of a coronavirus infection last race weekend.

George Russell replaced his compatriot and did not do him a disservice. Through bad luck a certain victory was taken away from him. Now that he has taken his place again, Hamilton tells us that things didn't go as smoothly as he had hoped. He finished fifth in the first free practice and second in the second free practice session.

"It's certainly been a bit of a messy day," he said in front of the Formula 1.com cameras afterwards. "There's a lot going on and the guys have been on the road for three weeks. We've had some problems, but we've overcome them as we always do. I'm sure it will be better tomorrow."

It also looked like Russell had been playing with his car, Hamilton said. "It felt like I hadn't been in the car for a long time. That was really weird. I really had to get used to it again. The car wasn't the same as when I left it, in the sense that the balance wasn't exactly the way I had set it up. But we are now working to bring it back to the settings that make me feel comfortable in the car," concludes the 35-year-old record holder.