expressed optimism after a promising performance by Mercedes in Suzuka’s morning free practice session, where both he and teammate George Russell finished fourth and fifth quickest respectively. Hamilton praised the progress made with the W15, noting that it felt better than it had all season.
Describing the session as the team’s best so far this year, Hamilton attributed the positive developments to the extensive experiments conducted to address the car’s high-speed weakness and tire temperature management issues.
Reflecting on the improvements, Hamilton highlighted the significance of finding a better baseline setup and expressed confidence in the current configuration, suggesting minimal changes moving forward.
Russell echoed Hamilton’s sentiments, expressing surprise at the team’s better-than-expected performance in FP1. Despite the challenges posed by variable conditions and the limited opportunity for qualifying laps due to high tire degradation, Russell emphasized the importance of maximizing every opportunity to secure a favorable grid position.
With both drivers feeling satisfied with the car’s balance and performance, Mercedes appears to be on an upward trajectory ahead of the upcoming races.
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