Mercedes make an ‘immediate’ improvement

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Mercedes: Immediate improvements

Lewis HamiltonandValtteri Bottashave both offered their first thoughts of driving the Mercedes W10 in Barcelona.

The Mercedes duo shared driving duties on the opening day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, with mileage, mileage, mileage very much the first priority.

Bottas, P8, and Hamilton, P9, racked up 150 laps between them, with the latter getting through 81 laps in the afternoon compared to the Finn’s 69 on Monday morning.

Hamilton’s main takeaway from the day was that the new car felt “quite a bit different”.

“It’s good to be back in the car and it’s great to see the car is running as smoothly at it is,” Hamilton said.

“It feels quite a bit different compared to last year and we’re now getting to know it, trying to understand the balance and trying to understand the characteristics we’re working with.

“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.”

Bottas, meanwhile, said that Mercedes have already been making immediate improvements after adjusting the balance of their 2019 challenger.

“I quite enjoyed this morning, it’s good to be back at the track,” added Bottas.

“I did 69 laps and there were no major issues with the car, so it was a relatively successful run.

“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.

“It’s good to see the car running well and it proves that the entire team is doing a great job, both in Brackley and Brixworth, but also here at the track.

“I’m looking forward to a more time in the car tomorrow afternoon.”

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Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Valtteri Bottas

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