“The car seemed to be pretty fast,” said Mercedes technical boss James Allison after the training a prelude to the Hungarian Grand Prix to 2020 (here in the live Ticker for this track!). And “pretty fast” is still remained something of an understatement: Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in the only dry session of the day over half a second ahead of the fiercest competition.
what’s More: With 1:16.003 minutes Hamilton in the first Free practice proud to 1.2 seconds faster than last year at the same place. Not surprisingly, he therefore speaks of a “great first Session,” and says: “We have all done what we had set out to do.”
Particularly noteworthy are: Hamilton slammed the best time on a soft compound tyre to the Hungarian Asphalt, but with the second-hardest mix in the offer of Pirelli, C2. This is this weekend, the hardest variant that is available.
Mercedes engineer Andrew Shovlin speaks of an “unusual Order” that have chosen to be a Team in Training, and he stated: the concern from the rain in the afternoon, you will have taken the first Soft, then Medium, and Hard.
“The reason for this was that we were interested especially for the Long runs with the [harder] tyres,” says Shovlin. It would have been “somewhat” surprised “by how competitive we were on the second Try [with the harder tyre]”.
all is not perfect in Mercedes
Hamilton’s verdict: “The feeling has passed.” However, it would be on the Mercedes is still to improve a lot.
“[The W11] is a great car. But: No car, no driver is perfect,” says Hamilton. “We are just trying on our solid Foundation to build on. We still learn New things, try to fine nuances in the Changes to come on the track.”
to sort out a bit more than Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas has. The championship leader came with a gap of 0.086 seconds on team-mate from the Friday training. His conclusion: “The first Training session in the Dry was not bad. I think we are well-positioned.”
What if Bottas is still not completely round
However, to have had its Mercedes “a tendency to under-steer,” says Bottas. “You can’t get but easy to handle.” Overall, it was therefore “not a bad Start” at the third Grand Prix of the year.
but the question Remains, who can be a Mercedes at the Hungaroring dangerous, in the large distance, the the Friday training has brought forth. But Hamilton says “don’t Interpret too much into it. Everyone drives a different program, makes something else, which relates to the wing, the engine, the petrol.”
Bottas sees it in a similar way. To assess the balance of forces was “very difficult, all the more after just a unit,” he says. “I would not draw too big conclusions.”
Only Bottas drives for Mercedes in the Wet
it was Clear only: Due to the rainy second Free practice sessions, in the only Bottas continued a Mercedes-time, you’ve lost a lot of time for the voting to work. “There was not do for us, really,” says Hamilton. He turned only a slow round without time.
Bottas drove in the Wet at least five rounds, and came 0,272 seconds behind the Ferrari man Sebastian Vettel in second place. “Of course, it would have been nice, we would have had more time [in the Dry] to Refine the Balance,” says Bottas. “Since we are all in the same boat.”
And, Hamilton says, the training time in the Dry was not sufficient to obtain a real location. “Now, we don’t know exactly where we stand until we get the next dry Session.” When this could be the case? Uncertain. The forecasts are for continued unsettled weather.
Hamilton’s weather desire for Hungary in
Hamilton has a clear preference: “I hope that it stays dry on Sunday. I wish for a dry race and a dry Qualifying session. The track here makes Dry really fun. In the Wet it is extremely difficult to work with.”
is expected But after the experience of the previous week to the Styria-Grand-Prix the Hungaroring, both in the Dry and in the Wet festival in Mercedes Hand.
Hamilton disagrees: He does not expect a repeat of his Demonstration on a quick lap in the rain. “If it [is] a wet Qualifying, then it’s different than last week.” Justification: “The track is much more slippery.”
Small slip of the tongue when the champion of the world
He had made in General, no picture of the intervals “and don’t even know who stands where,” says the world champion. “I would think, but this weekend it is not generally close, because here it depends so much on the sheer power.”
take, for example, Ferrari in the game, “the lost in the Winter a lot of power,” Hamilton said. In addition to Ferrari, he also called, Renault, McLaren and “the Force India … ah, shit … Racing Point” as a potential candidate in front of the items and says: “it Is exciting. In addition, Hungary is a Red Bull. You are here has always been strong.”
in fact, Red Bull has here only in 2010 with Mark Webber and 2014, with Daniel Ricciardo won. Two Times, in 2015 and 2017, won by Sebastian Vettel for Ferrari. In 2013 alone four Times, a certain Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes. He is already at seven wins in Hungary since 2007.
This article was written by Stefan Ehlen
*The contribution of “After the bombs-FT1: Lewis Hamilton hopes for dry race in Hungary” is published by Motorsport-Total.com. Contact with the executives here.
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