Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton says Formula 1 drivers will be “rusty as hell” when the series returns in Austria, but has urged Mercedes to hit the ground running.
Formula 1 is on an enforced hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic but championship officials are hopeful that the 2020 season can begin at Austria’s Red Bull Ring on July 5.
It means that by the time action resumes drivers will not have got behind the wheel of their respective cars since February 28, when testing concluded, a span of over four months.
The most recent grand prix took place on December 1 2019, meaning more than seven months will have passed between races, assuming Austria’s event can go ahead as scheduled.
“We’re going to get in the car and we’re probably going to have Friday practice and we’re all going to be rusty as hell, so it’ll be really interesting to see how we hit the ground running,” said Hamilton in a video produced by Mercedes.
“I’ve been on the phone with my team, speaking to Bono [Race Engineer Pete Bonnington] speaking to [Chief Strategist] James [Vowles] and trying to discuss with them a plan of how I think we should all arrive, utilising what tools we have, simulations.
“I probably will get in the simulator which I don’t always love, but utilising those tools to make sure when we come to that first race we’ll be hitting the ground running as if we’ve not missed any races.
“I was like… how can we arrive in Austria like we’ve already done 10 races? That’s a real challenge, I don’t know if we can do it, but that’s a good goal to have.”
Hamilton has only taken a single victory at the Red Bull Ring since the venue returned to the Formula 1 calendar in 2014, passing Nico Rosberg on the final lap to triumph in 2016.
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