Hamilton: I felt really good out there

Friday, 22 November 2024 at 10:48

Mercedes hit the ground running on the opening day of free practice for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton topping FP1 and FP2 on a chilly evening along The Strip.

In the other Mercedes, Russell was P3 at the end of FP2, a couple of tenths down on teammate Hamilton. McLaren's Lando Norris in P2 split the Silver Arrows at the end of the night. Suggesting that the W15 operates well in the cold and on the short runs.

In the team report, Hamilton was chuffed: "I felt really good out there today. I think that is the first practice day this year that we've been consistently strong, and the car has felt quick throughout. I am really enjoying driving this track, and it was nice to put together three good, competitive sectors over the lap.

"Despite topping both sessions, it is difficult to know exactly where we are in the competitive order with everyone running different fuel loads and run plans. Our long-run pace didn't look quite as good as our speed on the single lap.

"We therefore have work to do overnight to try and improve that without compromising our speed for qualifying. I'm hopeful we can still be in the mix; I will get some good rest tonight and come back strong," ventured Hamilton, who is in his final three-race spell with Mercedes before his move to Ferrari for the 2025 F1 season.

Russell: It is clear others will take a step forward

Mirroring his teammate's positive mood, Russell added, "That was a really good day for us as a team. It is still only practice, but it is definitely encouraging. The car has been working from the off, and I felt good behind the wheel. Lewis was on it from lap one and did a great job to top both sessions.

"That said, it is a street track and quite a dirty circuit today. As it continues to both cleanup and grip up, I am sure it will continue to evolve. It is likely that the times will be three seconds or so quicker come qualifying.

"We will therefore pick through the data overnight to understand exactly why we were so strong and how we can continue to make improvements too. It is clear others will take a step forward, so we will have to be at our best if we want to challenge at the front again on Friday," concluded Russell.

Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin summed up Mercedes' first night in Las Vegas: "We've had a solid day here in Las Vegas. It's tricky with the very cold temperatures to get the tires into the window, but in relative terms, it looks like we were coping reasonably well."

Shovlin: It's quite hard to work out where we sit in the long run

"It was encouraging that all our laps on low fuel looked competitive in both practice sessions," Revealed Shovlin. "The circuit is going to grip up significantly, so we need to make sure we can track that with the setup, but so far it does look like we're in a better place than at most of the recent races.

"It's quite hard to work out where we sit in the long run. We saw a lot of degradation across the field, with cars that pushed harder early on looking poor later in the stint, but it's clear that a bit of management is going to be required to look after the tires on Saturday night," noted Shovlin.

Out of title contention this season, Mercedes is P4 in the 2024 F1 World Championship standings after 21 rounds and likely to remain there as they are almost 300 points ahead of Aston Martin and 162 points adrift of Red Bull in P3.

Hamilton and Russell are similarly in 'No Man's Land' in the drivers' standings; the Mercedes pair are duking it out for P6 in the standings, with two points separating them in the standings.