Forecasters are calling for rainy conditions when qualifying gets underway Saturday for the Canadian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton looking forward to having some fun on a rainy Saturday in Montreal
Despite finishing 1-2 in FP2, Mercedes still has some work to do ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix
David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
And from Lewis Hamilton’s perspective, nothing could be better.
“I love the rain so let’s try and have some fun tomorrow,” exclaimed the Mercedes driver after Friday’s two practice sessions in the team’s post-practice report.
The teams were only able to run a few minutes during the first session, as a CCTV issue saw the session halted, and not resumed. Race officials started the second session 30 minutes early and FP2 was set to last 90 minutes, and when all was said and done it was a Mercedes duo up front, with Hamilton in P1 and George Russell in P2.
However, the team cautioned not to read too much into those results.
“It’s been quite a strange day given what happened in FP1 and then the extension of FP2. It was a reasonably productive session, but I don’t think we can read too much into the timings,” said Russell. “We did our low fuel qualifying preparation towards the end of the session when the track was quicker.”
“After the non-running in FP1, we decided to start our FP2 programme with high fuel work before moving on to low fuel running,” added Andrew Shovlin, the team’s Trackside Engineering Director. “That was to ensure we completed our long runs before the expected rain fell. We were an outlier in that respect and our low fuel work therefore benefited from more track evolution than the rest of the field. That was the predominant reason as to why we finished at the top of the time sheets.”
Still, both drivers noted that the recent upgrades to the W14 seem to be paying off.
“Overall, the car didn’t feel bad, but we’ve definitely got some work to do. We’ve just got to improve our ride control and balance through corner, and I think we will be alright,” said Hamilton. “The car overall is a step forward from earlier in the season and I do think I’m feeling the improvements that we saw in Monaco and Barcelona.”
“I do think the upgrades we’ve brought have helped the limitations of the car though,” added Russell.
In the end, however, it all comes down to the weekend, and a potentially wet Saturday.
Which might be just fine with Hamilton.
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