A ‘good day’ for Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton says it was “pretty exciting” to his race his W08 around the Interlagos circuit on Friday as he set a new lap record.

The four-time World Champion claimed the double in Friday’s practices for the Brazilian Grand Prix as he led home Valtteri Bottas in a Mercedes 1-2.

His best time for the day, a 1:09.202 that he set in FP1, was a new lap record.

“It’s been a good day,” said Hamilton.

“It was pretty exciting to come to the track with the cars being so much faster this year.

“It’s physically more demanding than before which is great and it’s obviously quite warm out there today.”

But with the track temperature reaching a high of 54’C during the day’s second practice, Hamilton revealed that he struggled with his Pirelli tyres.

His best time in FP2, 1:09.515, was set on the first flying lap on the supersoft tyres.

“We got through the long runs and the short runs,” he added. “Unfortunately, the tyres don’t really last very long, so you only get one or two laps on the short runs.

“Overall, we got through what we needed to do. We’re in a decent position but I think it could be quite close.”