Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton says he has started his title defence “on the right foot” after leading the way in both Friday practice sessions at the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton set the quickest time in the pair of 90-minute sessions held around the streets of Albert Park, finishing the day with a best of 1:23.931.
It left him 0.127 seconds clear of nearest rival Max Verstappen (Red Bull) at a venue where he has taken pole position on six occasions, and in each of the past four seasons.
Hamilton was encouraged by his start to the new season, as well as the lack of blistering on the tyres, which had been an issue during testing.
“Coming to the first race, you really have no idea what it’s going to be like,” he said.
“You don’t how you’re going to feel physically, you don’t know how the tyres are going to react to the circuit.
“But we started on the right foot today, we got through everything we needed.
“It closed up a little bit in FP2 in terms of the gap between us all, but that’s exciting. It’s more challenging for me to try and eke out a little more from the car.
“The tyres definitely didn’t seem to have the same issue that we had in Barcelona where they were blistering, so it felt a lot more normal.”
Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas placed third overall, via a couple of off-track excursions during the second session.
“FP1 was tricky for me, we had a bit of an issue with the suspension and also with the fuel system, so it was difficult to get a good comparison,” he said.
“I don’t think these issues are something to worry about, just something we discovered in the session.
“In second practice the car felt a lot better but there’s still more to unlock. I have to say thank you to the team because we are looking strong at this point, so I think it’s a good start.”
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