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'This time we really do have the right package'

ABU DHABI - Championship contender McLaren's Lewis Hamilton felt on song after topping the timesheets in the second practice session of the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Friday.

By James Jose

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Published: Sat 13 Nov 2010, 12:52 AM

Last updated: Tue 12 Oct 2021, 7:05 PM

The Briton, who was second to Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in the first session in the afternoon, was quickest in the second, ahead of Vettel. Hamilton had a time of 1:40.888 seconds, 0.257 seconds separating the two. Hamilton, who won his first title in 2008 to become the youngest F1 champion, said that of all the weekends this season, the car feels strong.

“Of all the weekends this year, this time I feel like we really do have the right package to challenge the fastest cars. I think we can fight for the front row. The car feels good, so I'm hopeful for a good qualifying result tomorrow afternoon. Of course, it will be tough, because the Red Bulls tend to pull out half a second in Q3, but our pace is closer to theirs than it's ever been,” he said after the practice session.

“We've been hoping for some time to improve our revised rear wing. It hasn't really been working fully since we first tested it at Suzuka, so we've not been able to use it to its fullest extent. We knew that it had potential though – and to have it finally working properly is a huge plus for us,” he added.

Hamilton was reprimanded by the stewards for crossing the white line at the pit entry after that tangle with Senna. He breached Article Appendix L Chapter 4 (d) and 31.1 of the 2010 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations. The stewards received a report from the race director, where they determined that Hamilton had breached the regulations.

“My visit to the stewards was just to explain what happened out on track with Senna. It was a bit of a misunderstanding: he was trying to start his lap, and I was trying to come into the pits. I'll go and speak to Bruno to make sure everything's cool,” Hamilton said.

Meanwhile, defending champion Jenson Button, who finished third in the first practice and eighth in the second session, said: “Today showed us there are a few areas where we need to improve my car. We changed a few things for the afternoon session, and I struggled with the balance – front locking is an issue, as it has been for the past few races. There's not enough consistency, so I think we're running a downforce level that's too low for this circuit.

“So that's probably not the way forward, but at least it's shown us the reasons why the pace wasn't there. It seems like Lewis's car, which was in a different configuration to mine, is still very quick – so hopefully we can find that same sweet-spot with my car,” Button said.

Button, who is out of the running for the title, said: “I want to enjoy the rest of the weekend – and there are lots of reasons to feel optimistic for tomorrow.”

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: “We come to this race determined to end an already successful season on a high, and to consolidate our second position in the constructors' world championship. To that end, we've aggressively refined our rear wing design into its final iteration, and initial tests suggest it's delivering the additional performance we'd anticipated. Lewis set a very strong pace in both practice sessions, ending the day fastest overall – a result that provides us with plenty of encouragement as we continue to refine our car overnight.”

james@khaleejtimes.com


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