Hamilton encouraged by practice pace

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN

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Friday 9th May 2008

Lewis Hamilton is feeling a bit more confident about his chances of winning in Turkey after finishing Friday's practice in second place.

Having failed to win a single grand prix since Australia, Hamilton is determined to return to winning ways this weekend. And the McLaren driver was given a welcome boost on Friday afternoon when he finished second, just 0.039s adrift of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

"We focused on tyre evaluation and set-up work today and so far things are not looking too bad," Hamilton said.

"Everybody lost a bit of running time in the first session as the track was still wet in places after cleaning. This circuit is constantly evolving which is challenging but also enjoyable.

"In the first session I stayed on the same set of tyres throughout and experienced no problems. In my last run of the day I put on a new set of tyres but had a small moment which cost me some time.

"Overall I am pleased with our initial pace and consistency."

Team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was also pleased with how his day went as the Finn made his return to the cockpit of his MP4-23 for the first time since crashing in Spain.

Kovalainen, though, showed no after-effects of his horrific shunt, finishing the day fifth on the timesheets with a 1:

"It was nice to get back in the car again and everything was fine. I was on the pace immediately and was able to set some consistent lap times," he said.

"At the end of the first session I went out on the option tyre but the brake temperature was not quite right, so I was not able to go flat out in that run.

"The second session went smoothly as well, and we focused on tyre evaluation with some long runs as well as looking at the set-up. A very productive and positive day."

The Finn was welcomed back by Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug: "The best news is that Heikki is back in his car, and he drove and worked with the team as we all know from him."

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