Hamilton pleased after time-topping Friday

Editor

After finishing fastest in both of Friday’s practice sessions, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton expressed his pleasure that his Silver Arrow ran smoothly without any hiccups ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Marginally quicker than rookie Max Verstappen in FP1, the Brit and his team-mate Nico Rosberg were almost half a second faster than third placed Valtteri Bottas during the second session.

Despite not being victorious in Brazil yet, the Drivers’ Championship contender is feeling rather confident going into the rest of the weekend.

“It’s been a good day,” he said after the second practice session.

“We got through all of our run programmes and the car is feeling really good.

“It’s pretty tough out here physically right now with the heat as high as it is. Not just in the car but for the guys in the garage too.

“Finding the right balance isn’t easy either in these conditions as the tyres are getting really hot.

He is also delighted that their long run pace seems to be quite promising.

“But our long run pace seems to be strong so we can be happy with the start we’ve made today,” he concluded.

Going into Saturday’s qualifiers, Hamilton will be hoping to get the best out of the car as he is determined to edge out Rosberg on Sunday and close down the 19-point deficit.