Lewis Hamilton says Jerez order 'irrelevant’ but pleased with early W06 mileage
Meanwhile, Lewis hopes to be good 'rookie' negotiator on contract
Tuesday 3 February 2015 07:24, UK
Lewis Hamilton has dismissed Mercedes’ modest position in the Jerez timesheets as an irrelevance after making a low-key – and truncated – return to F1 action.
Testing the W06 for the first time, the world champion, who has opened talks with Mercedes over a new contract, finished just fourth fastest after being forced to sit out the final three hours following a water leak.
Although Mercedes are enjoying plenty of mileage, with Hamilton still able to record 91 laps after Nico Rosberg’s record-breaking 157 on Sunday, they have been left in the shade by Ferrari’s ostensibly fast start, with new Scuderia recruit Sebastian Vettel quickest on both of the opening days. Hamilton, though, is unpertubed.
Ted's Notebook
“Today we were just driving around and weren’t trying to do fast laps or anything. I’m sure that [how different the W06 is] perhaps will become more evident when we put the car on the limit,” Hamilton told Sky Sports News HQ.
“Through testing everyone is using different fuel loads so it’s really irrelevant what position you are. What’s important is reliability and to prove out the car.”
So far, so good on that front. Mercedes have completed by far and away the most laps of any team at the halfway stage of the Jerez test.
“It was good. It’s great to see in the first two days we’ve had such good running and such good reliability,” added Hamilton. “That’s a really good step for the first two days and we’re going to continue to work on that. Naturally that’s the foundation we want to improve on.
“The car feels good. I can’t really say too much more about it yet. We’ve just been driving around, which is not the most exciting part of testing, that’s for sure.”
Moreover, the evolutionary nature of the W06 after the resounding success of the W05 is providing Hamilton with a reassuring familiarity.
“It feels very much the same,” he said. “It’s even the same seat as last year.”
Hamilton’s sitting position is likely to be fundamentally unchanged next year, too. The Englishman has opened talks with the Silver Arrows over an extension to the three-year contract he signed at the close of 2012. The 30-year-old has been spotted hunkered down in the Mercedes in earnest conversation with team bosses Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda since his arrival in Spain and it’s understood that Hamilton himself is negotiating his proposed deal with the Silver Arrows hierarchy.
This at least is new territory for Hamilton. In reference to his debut season in 2007, when the then-youngster nearly won the title at the first time of asking as a F1 driver, Hamilton was asked if he could be as good a rookie negotiator as he was a rookie driver nearly a decade ago?
“I plan to be!” came the reply.
The Sky Sports F1 Online team will be providing live commentary from all four days of testing in Jerez – from dawn on Sunday to dusk on Wednesday. Sky Sports News HQ will also have live updates from trackside.
