Lewis puts the wind up rivals
Red-hot Hamilton blows ‘em away in Barcelona
LEWIS HAMILTON is hoping for calmer conditions in Barcelona today – despite second practice proving a breeze.
Hamilton raised the bar for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix by setting the fastest time on a sun-bathed but blustery Circuit de Catalunya yesterday.
He was beaten to top spot by his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the opening running.
But the British driver ended the day fastest – one minute and 18.259 seconds edging out Daniel Ricciardo by less than two tenths with Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen third.
Hamilton said: “The day was pretty good but it was a tricky one because it was so windy out there. Every driver was struggling with the changing direction of the wind.
“You’re constantly arriving at each corner and the wind direction is never the same, so we saw lots of drivers going off.
“These conditions make it very difficult to define where the set-up needs to go.
“We’ve got some work to do overnight. I’m hoping it’s cooler and calmer tomorrow. It’s going to be relatively close between the top three teams but I can’t really say who is quickest.”
Ricciardo crashed out of opening practice earlier yesterday after he lost control and slid into the barriers – but he then ran Hamilton close after repairs to his car.
Seb Vettel, trailing Hamilton by four points, finished in fourth and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who was sixth fastest, had to park up due to puffs of white smoke from his Ferrari’s engine.
Vettel said: “It’s been a tricky day with the tyres. It’s very close.
“Could be P1 or P6 in qualifying but that makes it exciting.”