The world champion won the second free practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday afternoon as main title rivals Red Bull had a more difficult day on the Barcelona circuit.
With Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as the closest challenger to Mercedes on the timesheets and the alpine duo Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso right behind him, Hamilton was impressed by the way the midfield was catching up.
“It’s amazing to see the progress Ferrari and McLaren and even Alpine are making,” said Hamilton. “It’s fantastic to see them so strong that it puts pressure on us too. It’s not just about a group.”
Mercedes looked strong on Friday in both the individual lap and the long run. Team boss Toto Wolff said it was the team’s best start to a season weekend so far.
“I think it was our best Friday so far, so encouraging,” Wolff told Sky F1. “We were just talking about the pit wall so we have 24 hours to really screw it up!”
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The strong start to the weekend also makes it unlikely that Mercedes will have to split the setup directions among its drivers to cover Red Bull.
In Portugal last weekend, Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton ran different rear wing configurations, which played an important role in the outcome of the race.
Bottas said after Friday that such a split approach would not take place in Spain.
“I think this weekend we plan to run the same setup in terms of the rear wing and everything,” explained the Finn. “I think for this track we have a pretty good understanding of what should be the best for both of them.
“I think it’s okay from that point of view. Tonight it’s the usual: We’re trying to optimize the setup as best we can because every millisecond we can find we know it will help in qualifying.”
Even though Mercedes looked so fast on Friday, Bottas believes the key to qualifying success is managing tire temperatures over a single lap to prevent overheating.
“I still think with the soft tire for qualifying where both axles front and rear work perfectly for the first lap, I think that will be the key. I think again that the gaps will be small.” “
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