Lewis Hamilton says he is happy with the pace shown by the new McLaren at Catalunya
Lewis Hamilton said he was pleased with the performance of McLaren's new car after completing two solid days of running at Catalunya.
Hamilton completed his work at the wheel of the MP4-27 on Wednesday, with team-mate
Jenson Button taking over for the final two days of the four-day test today and Friday.
Wednesday's running saw Hamilton complete 120 laps of the Barcelona circuit, positing the sixth quickest time, meaning he has managed to put 1000km of running on the car in his two days on track.
After the issues faced by the team at this time last year, Hamilton said he was pleased with the progress being made with the new car and was looking forward to the final test to see exactly where
McLaren stands.
“To have completed more than 1000km in the past two days is incredibly encouraging – the whole team should feel proud,” he said. “The car behaves really well in the high-speed corners – I think the baseline of our car is higher than it was last year – and it's better overall at high-speed. It's performing well in Turns Three and Nine, too.
“We don't know the fuel-loads of the other cars, so it's still hard to determine the pecking order. We didn't bring any upgrades here, but our understanding of the car has developed since the test in Jerez. We're learning more about how the tyres work, how the temperatures behave and how to balance the car using set-up. It's been an extremely productive few days – and I think Jenson will continue to improve the car tomorrow.
“Now, I'm just looking forward to the final test – it's where you get a really good feeling of where the car will be. It's also exciting because it's the last stop before the first race."
