Hamilton: The car feels good better than last year

Lewis Hamilton has been under the weather throughout the preseason Formula 1 test in Barcelona test, but when on duty in the cockpit of the Mercedes W06 felt the reigning world champion felt that the new car was a step up on it's predecessor.

Hamilton mused, "I'm not sure where we stand compared to the others. The first test [Jerez] was just about completing loads of laps and today was the same, so I've not really started dialing the car into how I'd like to perfect it. Quick laps are for Saturday in qualifying. But it feels good - similar to last year but better."

"I'm definitely not 100% and I'm looking forward to going home tonight [Saturday] and sleeping for the next couple of days! It was a hard day out there physically - but I'll make sure I'm better for next week and come back stronger."

"I'm glad I got some good time in the car on [Saturday] with 101 laps. The guys here and back at the factory are working incredibly hard to make sure we get as much mileage as we can, so a big thanks to them."

"We weren't looking for a quick lap - just driving round looking at setup changes. If the weather had been better we would have had more mileage but we got through everything we wanted to today anyway. All things considered it's been a great day."

"The biggest issue at the moment is actually getting the tyres working properly. There's temperature in them but they just don't seem to ever be in the operating window. Hopefully when we see warmer temperatures they'll be better."

"The car itself feels solid and we've been good on reliability. There are areas we can improve on - but we're taking it one step at a time and each step so far has been forwards, not backwards, so it's been quite positive."

"We've not been without a few problems here and there but I've seen the team working away to iron out any creases and it's just amazing to watch. As long as we keep moving forwards that's what matters most and we're focused on doing that."

"We're just focused on our own job - getting lots and lots of miles on the car, proving everything out and making the most of the time we have before the season starts," concluded the double world champion.