07/07/2017
NEWS STORY
Lewis topped the morning session with Valtteri just 0.370s shy in P3. Lewis ended the day with the fastest time in the afternoon session, with Valtteri third quickest. Lewis ran the Soft and UltraSoft compound tyre in FP1, while Valtteri used the SuperSoft and UltraSoft. Both drivers then used the SuperSoft and UltraSoft rubber in FP2.
Lewis Hamilton: It's been a really good Friday with no major headaches to complain about so far. We had to swap out a spark plug during FP2, but the guys did a great job to turn the car around and we still managed to complete our programme. Most importantly, the car feels fantastically fast here. There's already a nice balance and it feels good out on track. This car is so quick in comparison to what we raced here last year. It's tricky, but a proper thrill to hook up a lap. The team is in good spirits and we're all up for another exciting fight with the Ferraris this weekend.
Valtteri Bottas: A solid start to the weekend. There's a good feeling inside the team and the car is clearly quick here. It was great to see that the upgrades the team worked so hard to deliver for this weekend worked straight out of the box. Aerodynamically we've made another step forward from Baku, which is encouraging. This track punishes you if you make a mistake, and I tested those limits, but that's something I can learn from and build upon for the rest of the weekend. The balance of the car feels good and we'll fine tune the setup some more tonight to be ready for qualifying. Ferrari are looking strong here too, so we're expecting another interesting weekend ahead.
James Allison, Technical Director: We still have a few unanswered questions after today's practice sessions but it was nevertheless a pretty promising Friday. We ran all three tyre compounds and they were unusually close in performance at this circuit. But it was clear that our car was decently balanced on all of them. We showed good pace on both low and high fuel, although we have the feeling there is still a little more to be found at the lower fuel level. But it was a good start overall.
Check out our Friday gallery from Spielberg, here.