Lewis Hamilton: “The car’s been feeling really good”

Lewis Hamilton bounced back from his disappointing race in Germany to top the times in both sessions in Hungary for McLaren.

The car has clearly been improved by the upgrades that were introduced in Hockenheim, although the bad weather there didn’t allow the drivers to take full advantage.

“It’s been a real positive day for me,” said Hamilton. “The guys did a fantastic job, we made some really good changes with the car to get it dialled in, we’re on the right path. We’ve still got work to do and we know the Red Bull looks very quick, so does the Lotus, and obviously Ferrari as well. We are by no means feeling comfortable, we’re going to keep pushing.

“I feel good in the car, but practice is completely different to qualifying. Tomorrow when we get into qualifying I have no doubts that Fernando will all of a sudden find half a second, I have no doubts that all of a sudden the Red Bulls will find a chunk of time. In practice you just focus on whatever fuel load you’re on and whatever programme you’re on. I think we’re not in a bad position. It’s been all positives today, we haven’t really had any problems, just making nice little tweaks to the car. But the car’s been feeling really good.”

Hamilton is adamant that he had to be at the sharp end in qualifying on Saturday.

“Overtaking here is very, very difficult, if not almost impossible. Positioning is very important. People will do longer runs, people will do three stops, some people will do two stops. Fernando when he starts at the front, it makes the race so much easier [for him], and that’s how it is when you start at the front. It will be great for our team if at least we can get in the first two rows, it would be a really good start for our weekend.”

Lewis also made it clear how much he likes the track, where he has been fast since his F1 rookie season in 2007.

“I love this track, it’s a great old circuit, real great character to it, lovely off-camber corners, ups and downs. Really, really great fun to drive, it’s so flowing. And tough on the tyres. Just because I love it doesn’t mean I’m going to do any better here, but you enjoy it a lot more than some others.”