Hamilton focuses on starts after British GP struggles

Lewis Hamilton has been concentrating on correcting his starting procedures with Mercedes during Friday practice at Hockenheim after a poor getaway from pole position at the British Grand Prix triggered a nightmare race.

Last time out Hamilton fluffed his start from pole, seeing Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel immediately take the lead, before tangling with Kimi Raikkonen at Turn 3 despite the Finn starting a whole row behind him.

After his poor start at Silverstone, while Mercedes has been prone to slow getaways on occasions, Hamilton says perfecting his starts has been an extra workload during Friday practice ahead of the German Grand Prix.

Hamilton feels finding the right temperature window for the tyres will be key to resolving the issue as he aims to fightback in Germany having dropped to eight points behind Vettel in the Formula 1 world drivers’ championship.

“We've been working on our starts, making sure to get a better understanding of the tyres and tyre temperatures and trying to be as perfect as we can in that area,” Hamilton said. “Both Ferrari and Red Bull were very quick today and I think it will be very similar tomorrow and on Sunday.

“We've got through our programme today, finished all the sessions and got all the information we needed from the tyres. The car was feeling good, but it is very close, so there's lots of work to do tonight.

“It's going to be a serious challenge and it's not an easy track to get right, so we will have to give it everything.”

Hamilton started the German Grand Prix with an added boost of confirming a new two-year deal at Mercedes worth a report £40m per year.

Earlier today, teammate Valtteri Bottas was also confirmed to be staying at Mercedes on a one-year contract with the option for a second year.