Lewis Hamilton hails 'amazing' Mercedes after Bahrain testing

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton hails 'amazing' Mercedes after Bahrain testing

Seven-time world champ reflects on Day 1 for the W14 in Sakhir

Stuart Hodge

Thursday 23 February 2023 20:11 Updated: 23:15

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Lewis Hamilton issued a cautiously optimistic update and hailed his "amazing" team after Mercedes completed Day 1 of 2023 pre-season testing in Bahrain.

The seven-time world champion set the sixth fastest time of the day at the International Circuit - 0.671 seconds than reigning world champ Max Verstappen for Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton inspects the RB19 in Bahrain.

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But after a 2022 season beset by issues (notably that infamous porpoising nightmare) Hamilton was more focused on the reliability the W14 displayed on Thursday, and the vital pre-season clues it allowed the Silver Arrows to gather.

Lewis Hamilton Day 1 Bahrain debrief

After completing 83 laps in Sakhir, he explained: "It's good to be back in the car here in Bahrain. It was a nice, cool afternoon weather-wise, though windy. We got through our programme and have gathered lots of data.

"We also had good reliability which contributed to our strong mileage total; that is down to the amazing work done back at Brackley and Brixworth."

Hamilton will be back in the car early on Friday for the morning session of day two in Bahrain. The four-hour window opens at 0700 UK time (0800 CET, 0200 EST). He is keen to stress the need for Mercedes to focus only on their own performance for now.

"We've got to keep pushing, focus on ourselves, and stay focused. It's difficult to know where we are in the order, but we'll get a better feeling in the days to come."