30/08/2025 07:10
Lewis Hamilton was left scratching his head as to how to close the
gap on a dominant Lando Norris after suffering two spins in one day
in a Ferrari he described as "unpredictable". After languishing in
a lowly 15th on the timesheet at the end of first practice,
Hamilton at least improved in FP2 up to sixth, yet still found
himself trailing a comfortable-looking Norris in his McLaren by
0.848s. Hamilton insisted it had "not been the worst of days" and
that he and Ferrari were "making progress", but the gap to the
McLarens, and even Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who split Norris
and Piastri and was 0.087s down, appears unassailable at this
stage. There were also those two spins to contend with, one in
either session, with the second coming at a time when he had
purpled the first sector and was poised to post a more challenging
time than he concluded with, a 1:10.738s. "We were obviously quite
far off in P1, a lot further than normal," assessed Hamilton. "The
first lap felt pretty decent getting back, but it was then a bit of
a challenge. We made some progress over lunch, but still quite a
chunk off, so we've got some work to do." As for the spins, he
said: "The first one was just pushing too much. Ultimately, the
ride quality is not where we would want it. The car is quite
unpredictable. "The second one, I touched the grass and had a snap,
and that was that, but pushing, which is positive, I guess.
Hopefully, no more." With Mercedes' George Russell and Max
Verstappen in his Red Bull also ahead of Hamilton, the seven-time
F1 champion faces a battle to potentially make the fourth row,
particularly with the second Aston Martin out of the equation in
FP2 after Lance Stroll crashed heavily into a barrier at the
renowned Turn 3 banking 11 minutes into the session. "Before my
[second] spin, I was around a tenth up, and then I've got another
tenth and a half [to find] in the last corner, so I've got to make
some improvements there, and then we've got some work to do with
the setup," reviewed Hamilton. "Pace-wise, we are where we are. I
don't really know how we're going to find eight-tenths. I really
don't know, but we'll try our best."
