Hamilton: Great to see car running smoothly

Lewis Hamilton has spoken for the first time since getting an official run in his brand new Mercedes W10 which he enjoyed at testing at Barcelona on Monday, and he seems content with the performance so far, saying it was great to see the car running "smoothly".

The Brit won his fifth world championship last season which puts him two titles behind the record set by Michael Schumacher.

He is going for his sixth in 2019, while Mercedes are hoping to win their sixth constructor's championship in a row, and the early signs are positive, according to the man himself, even if the new car is different to what he is used to.

"It feels quite a bit different compared to last year," Hamilton admitted after the day's testing

"We're now getting to know it. Trying to understand the balance and trying to understand the characteristics we're working with.

"It's good to be back in the car and it's great to see the car is running as smoothly at it is.

"It's been a positive first day. We got through our running plan and there's lots for us to learn about the new car which we will be working on."

Testing, data gathering and preparing ???????? Looking forward to getting back out on the track @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/SNHtwGk8UQ — Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) February 18, 2019

His team-mate Valtteri Bottas was also happy with the run-out in the morning session.

"I quite enjoyed this morning," said the Finn.

"I did 69 laps and there were no major issues with the car, so it was a relatively successful run. It proves that the entire team is doing a great job, both in Brackley and Brixworth, but also here at the track."

"Since the car is brand new, we immediately found ways to improve the balance and the behaviour and we will continue to work on that in the next days."

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