Hamilton bullish despite past Sochi struggles

Lewis Hamilton is confident he can translate an impressive Friday into success over the weekend at the Russian Grand Prix, as he looks to turn around his form at the Sochi Autodrom. Hamilton suffered an off weekend in Russia last year, failing to make the podium as Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas took victory.

Taking a 40-point buffer over Sebastian Vettel to Sochi, Hamilton started his weekend in fine fashion, topping the timesheets in Friday's second practice, more than half a second clear of the Ferrari man.

After winning the first two Russian Grands Prix, Hamilton has finished behind his team-mate in the past two years in Sochi, but he is full of confidence this time around.

"Sochi has been one of the weaker circuits for me in the past, particularly last year," Hamilton said.

"So I've done a lot of work to understand the balance and see where I can improve to try and rectify this - today has been good in that sense.

"From every race we're learning more and more and particularly the last few races have helped us to really gauge which foot we need to start on for the weekend.

"We've brought more upgrades this weekend; there's so much work going on at home and it's just really encouraging when you come to a race and you get an upgrade, knowing that this late in the season we're also already working on next year's car - it motivates me to get the best out of everything.

"It's been a good day for us, so let's hope that it continues tomorrow."

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