Lewis Hamilton: Valtteri Bottas better in China

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton: Bottas better in China

The Finn was top of the timesheets in Shanghai.

Matthew Scott

Friday 12 April 2019 12:36

Lewis Hamilton said he could not find the same comfort over the Shanghai International Circuit as Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas during Friday practice for the Chinese Grand Prix. While Bottas ended the day quicker than anyone, Hamilton was back in P4 on the timesheets.

Hamilton ended FP2 seven tenths of a second off Bottas, having seen his flying lap impacted by debris on the circuit.

However, it was not the only issue for Hamilton, who spun on his out-lap on cold tyres – something Bottas also did – and reported after the days running that he wasn't happy with his performance.

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Hamilton said: "It was quite cold out there, which makes it difficult for the tyres. I was struggling with the car today, so we've got work to do, particularly on my side as Valtteri looked much more comfortable in the car.

"We're going to work hard tonight to find some tweaks and hopefully come back stronger tomorrow; the car has the pace in it to compete at the front, we just need to find the right set-up.

"It is nice to see how close it is between us, Red Bull and Ferrari.

"As we expected, the Ferraris still look quicker on the straights, but overall it's very close between the top cars and I anticipate that it is going to be the same tomorrow."

Bottas was reading little into his spot at the top of the timesheets come the end of the day.

"We got there step by step and the car was feeling ok in the end, but it's only Friday and it's the next two days that count," he said.

"Ferrari still seem to be quicker than us on the straights, whereas we were better in most corners in FP2. We still have room for improvement, but we know the others are going to work hard on their cars as well, so we're going to have to wait and how much we can improve in relation to them."