Hamilton says Mercedes in "good position" as he returns to head of timesheet for first time since Monza; But Ferrari and Red Bull show strong form on long runs ahead of Sunday's race
Monday 3 October 2016 09:01, UK
Lewis Hamilton is feeling confident about his and Mercedes' pace at the Malaysia GP after he returned to the top of the timesheet in practice.
But although the world champions held a significant edge on single-lap pace on Friday to finish one-two in both sessions, the prospect of a multi-team 'competition' in Sunday's race is not being discounted after Ferrari and Red Bull ran Mercedes close on the long runs.
Amid sweltering 50-degree-plus track temperatures, described by tyre supplier Pirelli as the "highest in recent memory", Hamilton was surprised with how the tyres were holding on around one of the most demanding tracks on the calendar.
"Normally degradation is a real killer, I guess with new tarmac it's not that abrasive on the tyres and they seem to be lasting," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 after several strong long-run stints.
"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing for racing but we're in a good position in terms of pace."
Mercedes' timesheet advantage stood at 0.6 seconds over nearest challengers Ferrari at the end of Practice Two, but the Brackley team's rivals were able to take greater heart from the picture created by the later race simulations.
Sky F1 analyst Mark Hughes tweeted: 'It LOOKS like there's nothing between Merc and Ferrari on long runs. Verstappen comparable too. A competition?'
Malaysia, then in its previous early-season slot on the calendar, was one of only three races Mercedes failed to win last year with Sebastian Vettel triumphing for Ferrari after making one less pit stop than Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
After finishing third to Mercedes on Friday, Vettel said: "We had a decent day, testing quite a lot of things. Historically we seemed to do well when it's warm and today was quite warm.
"We try to be competitive, our pace wasn't too bad from what I was told. If that's the name of the game, that the hot conditions suit us, then it might be a good thing. I hope that we can progress and improve but whatever comes up we have to take it."
Red Bull, having leapfrogged Ferrari for second in the Constructors' Championship, trailed Mercedes by over one second on the Friday timesheet but were also left encouraged by their own long runs.
"It was a positive day," said Max Verstappen, who turned 19 on Friday. "The short runs can be a bit better, but the long runs look very strong.
"The pace on the soft for me was pretty good. I felt there was some lap time in it. I was happy, especially in the long run. I felt like I could do what I wanted in the car, throw it into the corner like I wanted to and still the pace was there."
Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo endured a more difficult Friday, finishing only eighth and admitted "on low fuel and high fuel I just struggled".
He added: "Not so much keeping the tyres in a good window, but getting the grip out of the tyres. The new surface definitely has more grip in it, but I didn't find as much as the others."
He suspects Red Bull may stay behind Ferrari on Saturday, but will still have a shot at overhauling them over the longer race distance.
"We did expect Ferrari to be quite quick here, obviously last year they had some good success," Ricciardo said. "I'm a bit too far off the pace where I want to be, so I think we can get closer. They'll probably still be with their nose in front come qualifying, but in the race anything can happen."
