Lewis delighted with his ‘beast’
HAMILTON’S POWERFUL NEW MACHINE LEAVES OTHER DRIVERS IN ITS WAKE McLaren off to a rocky start as they switch engines.
Lewis Hamilton fired a warning to his title rivals on Monday, pipping Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel on the opening day of pre-season testing in Barcelona in his “beast” of a Mercedes.
Vettel topped the timesheets in the first session but the Briton Hamilton, taking over the wheel of Mercedes’ imposing 2017 car from new team-mate Valtteri Bottas, clocked the day’s best lap of 1min 21.765sec.
Bottas, retired world champion Nico Rosberg’s replacement, topped the times at one stage in the morning but slipped to only sixth-fastest overall after Hamilton stepped into the cockpit.
Bottas was beaming after his first significant test with his new team.
“It’s a great feeling,” Bottas said. “I only started a month ago, but what I have seen has been very impressive.”
Hamilton, enjoying F1’s new owners Liberty Media’s focus on promoting better interaction with the sport’s fans on social media, was live from the cockpit on his Instagram account.
Th three-time world champion said afterwards: “I definitely put my body to the test today.
“These test days are like training. It was good to feel the wider, beefier car. It’s faster, more physical ... it’s a beast.”
The 32-year-old added: “I still think we’re the team to beat, but we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
With radical new rules the 2017 F1 cars are wider and more powerful than their predecessors.
And combined with Pirelli’s wider tyres their extra oomph was plain to see in Barcelona with the fastest lap time for the entire eight days of last year’s testing lowered several times on day one.
Mercedes’ daunting reliability was underlined by the German constructor’s car completing over 150 laps.
But Ferrari fans will take heart from Vettel, in action in both sessions, also putting in the miles with 128 laps.
And Felipe Massa, back in business for Williams after flirting with retirement, was another enjoying himself.
The Brazilian completed 103 laps and posted the third-fastest time.
But the pre-season testing woes that have haunted McLaren returned, with the once all-conquering team forced to switch Honda engines after an oil problem.
Fernando Alonso had to wait over seven hours before putting his first timed lap on the board.
The Spanish two-time former world champion eventually mustered 29 laps in front of his home supporters – albeit three seconds slower than Hamilton. – AFP