Lewis Hamilton said the very wet conditions at Jerez today made it difficult to get much useful running done.
He told reporters:
It was better to be on the beach somewhere.
I would have loved to have a dry day, everyone here probably would have. And I like driving in the wet, but it was just a bit too wet. It would have been nice if it was a bit more constant but I’m not down, I feel positive about my car.
Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton said McLaren are running their car in the same configuration they had at Valencia. He added:
I did 15 laps this morning in the dry, so you can’t feel too much. It felt really good in Valencia. Today this morning was very cold, we had different fuel loads and it felt the same as it did in the last test.
Lewis Hamilton
He believes it’s even harder to work out how well rival teams are doing because of the larger fuel tanks being used this year:
There’s such a huge variation in fuel loads we have absolutely idea. Less of an idea than we had in the past, I think, because some people can drive with 30 kilos or ten and some will be 100 or 150. So it’s impossible to say.
Lewis Hamilton
Asked what he thought of the new Silverstone circuit design announced yesterday, Hamilton said he hadn’t seen it yet but didn’t think the circuit needed updating:
I liked it the way it was, but I welcome new ideas.
Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton added the likelihood of more rain tomorrow limits what they might be able to get done:
There’s always small things you can do, certain checks that the team have to do. But in terms of my driving there’s nothing I can really learn. Time on the track is always valuable but in the wet, it’s not really worth it.
I’d like to get out there and do some of the programme we were going to do today and try and get as much running in as possible.
Lewis Hamilton
joe
12th February 2010, 19:31
do F1 drivers not see the car before its launch and not see the new silverstone track thats been available to view online for months
Or do they just act like they don’t know anything in interviews to make sure they give no secrets away?
ElChiva
12th February 2010, 19:43
man he said he liked it the way it was. Not that it took him by surprise.
ElChiva
12th February 2010, 19:38
“There’s such a huge variation in fuel loads we have absolutely idea.”
absolutely, word by word, exactly what he said.
Either LH is retarded or the reporter is…
Invoke
12th February 2010, 20:23
It’s pretty obvious what he meant Chiva, whether it was mis-quoted, mis-heard, or a mistake there’s no reason to call anyone retarded, that’s just insulting for no good reason
Aleksandar Serbia
12th February 2010, 21:33
Who wants to dry run i don’t, i like to stick it when its wet..to the road of course
bwells
12th February 2010, 23:51
It’s looking like next week will be a wet one at Jerez again… I hope the back up plan is in action.. there’s too little testing to be wasting days swimming around the track..
wet data is good but enough is enough.. :)
Salty
13th February 2010, 20:09
Surprised Hamilton hasn’t seen the reworked Silverstone, but then again, am sure with the new car just out of wraps and all the promo work for the sponsors, he doesn’t have much time to catch breath away from F1 right now. Guessing his free time isn’t spent surfing here.
The truncated testing is a serious issue. I realise the FiA did this to reduce costs and help level the playing field, but when that means teams have so little data they are hampered in finding a base to improve on, I would argue this hurts the smaller budget teams more than the large.
The lack of in-season testing has made GP Friday’s meaningless. Teams test the enhancements, not refine the cars for the circuits, to our loss. Any unexpected change of weather nullifies their efforts and our enjoyment of ‘the show’ they are so busy trying to enhance. How often to we hear the driver lament that “the car balance was not right this weekend”.
Give the teams back 6 two day in season tests on pre-nominated non-season circuits and we might see the cars racing at closer to their true potential on the Sunday.
matt90
14th February 2010, 12:26
Or at circuits which have already been raced at that year.
Chaz
28th February 2010, 15:36
Perhaps one could see this as an opportunity for Lewis to hone his wet driving skills so as to give us a great race against Schumacher…