Lewis Hamilton issues Madrid warning following Ferrari F1 filming day

Lewis Hamilton believes the new Madrid Formula 1 circuit will be “a difficult place to overtake” following a Ferrari filming day at the venue last week.

Ferrari became the first team to complete laps of the new Madring, which will host the Spanish Grand Prix in September, during a filming day.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said there wasn’t much for Ferrari to learn from the filming day, while noting that he expects it to be a track which emphasises qualifying.

“We only had a few laps, so it was very dusty for new circuit,” he told the media on Thursday at the Belgian Grand Prix.

“As you would expect, there was no grip. So, your tyres were basically just covered in dust, and that’s the whole time.

“It looks like a track that’s going to be… I mean, the track was like 60 degrees the whole time.

“So, it looks like it will be a qualifying lap sort of circuit, and there’s not really any straights. So, it looks like a difficult place to overtake.”

Hamilton added that it was a “cool experience” to be the first to try a new F1 track.

Team-mate Charles Leclerc was very enthusiastic about the Madring, branding the cambered La Monumental turn as a “very special corner”.

“It's a very, very special corner,” Leclerc said.

“It’s a corner where I feel in qualifying, we'll have to… I will say it in a polite way… but we'll have to be very brave because it's going to be on the limit.

“And so that's going to be really cool, I think. It's going to be a really cool corner.

“ And yes, I do believe it can become one of the most iconic corners of the season, especially once the grandstand will be built. And I think that will add also to the experience of that corner.

“Can it fit my driving style? I mean, I like city tracks in general.

“So I have little doubts I will love MadRing. Whether it will fit me or not, I don't really know.

“But one thing for sure is that you'll have to go full commitment. And this, I always enjoy it in city tracks.”

Hamilton: “It will be very difficult” to beat Mercedes at Spa

Mercedes is expected to maintain its dominance at Spa this weekend, owing to the power demands of the Belgian circuit.

Hamilton concedes that Ferrari was a lot closer to Mercedes at Silverstone than he expected, but also admits that its “three or four tenths” deficit will likely be bigger.

“It will be very difficult,” he said when asked about beating Mercedes.

“This track is lots and lots of straights. We went to Silverstone and thought it was going to be much further down on power, and it was quick through the corners.

“So, it was far better than we anticipated. So, we come here not really knowing what to expect, except the track is 50% more straights.

“I think there was still a gap of maybe three or four tenths in the last race, so here I anticipate it will probably be more.

“But we’re doing all we can. In terms of upgrades, I’m just so proud of the team continuing to push to optimise the car.

“We’ve been making fine adjustments to the car every week, which is great to see, rather than one upgrade and several months later another one comes.

“Every weekend, we’re bringing little bits and we find something.”