25/11/2016
NEWS STORY
Lewis topped both sessions today with Nico P2 in each. Both drivers ran the Soft and UltraSoft compound tyre in both sessions.
Lewis Hamilton: It's been a great day. Generally very smooth with no real issues. The first run in FP2 wasn't ideal as there was so much traffic and I didn't get to do a flying lap. But after that I managed to get a decent time in. Not perfect, as I was still feeling where the car was, but good enough. We got a lot of work done both on the short and long runs. I'm really happy with the car and we're in a good position for tomorrow. Pole is the goal for tomorrow. I haven't managed it at this track for a long time but I know I'm quick here, the car feels great and there's still some time in it, so that's my absolute focus right now.
Nico Rosberg: A decent start to the weekend. Straight away the car started off with a balance that was in the right area. It's always interesting going from hot conditions to cooler ones between the afternoon and evening sessions. Adapting to that and knowing what to expect can be a challenge but our car was working well in both conditions, on low and high fuel. Graining on the front tyres when they're cold is the main thing we need to get to grips with in preparation for the race.
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): That was a solid start to the weekend. Both drivers struggled to put good laps together at various points in each session with traffic and the odd mistake. But our pace is looking reasonably good on both the single lap and on long runs. We have more work to do overnight to make sure we have our setup and strategy right for the weekend ahead. Tonight, these W07 cars will be built to race for the last time - cars that the team has labored over for thousands of hours. It's the first step towards the end of a quite incredible working life for these machines. Hopefully we can give them the send-off they deserve.
Check out our Friday gallery from Abu Dhabi, here.