Lewis Hamilton has made a much better start to the weekend in Hungary than in Germany, where he went on to win the race.
At the Nurburgring on Friday Hamilton was well off the frontrunning pace, and cautioned that he could not fight for pole – only to start second. Given that Jenson Button was also well up it suggests that McLaren will be competitive this weekend.
“It’s a great feeling to already start the weekend on a high,” said Hamilton. “Again, not really expected. I think the climate is working quite well for us, it’s not as hot as it usually is here. And the car is feeling better again. The guys have been working hard back at the factory, we’ve got a couple of small things this weekend, which in such a short time is quite impressive.
“We’re just working on the balance of the car. It’s very early to say what’s going to happen, but we are competitive at least, and I think we can compete with the guys at the front.”
Hamilton insisted that he wasn’t getting too excited just yet.
“I think it’s important not to take too much from a Friday. You can get excited or you can get down, it’s better just to focus on the set-up. We’ll come back tomorrow, the temperatures might be different, the track might be different, the situation could be different.
“But I do think we had the same pace we had last week, so I do think we can challenge the Ferraris and the Red Bulls, which is exciting. And then we’ll see how it rolls from there.”
Asked if he could win this weekend he said: “We do have a positive buzz in the team, but without a doubt we do know it will be massively tough this weekend, with the tyre cooling, the pit stops, the tyres, the way they degrade. But we’ll be pushing as hard as we can, and of course it’s our target.”
Adam Cooper F1 