• Canadian Grand Prix

Hamilton frustrated by graining

ESPNF1 Staff
June 11, 2010 « Driver reaction after Friday practice | »
Lewis Hamilton was frustrated by the state of the circuit on Friday. © Getty Images
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Lewis Hamilton confessed himself frustrated with the condition of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after finishing seventh fastest in free practice for the Canadian Grand Prix on Thursday.

Hamilton finished third fastest in the morning session but dropped down the timesheet in the afternoon. Afterwards, he laid most of the blame on the circuit.

"I'm not happy with how this afternoon went - I think today in general the track has just been incredibly difficult to drive," said Hamilton. "It's very difficult to switch the tyres on, to get heat into the tyres, and it's just like being on an ice rink out there. It's so slippery.

"It's a huge difference to how it was when I was here before. We had great grip [back then], the track got better and better, but we were struggling [today] for sure. We're not pulling away down the straights, we have quite a lot of bottoming. There are areas we can improve on, we just have to do a big debrief now and figure out where we want to go with the car tomorrow.

"But it's a bit of an unknown, because we tried a few things and the car was just as bad, if not worse."

Hamilton said that the major problem was with the graining of his soft compound tyre which left him struggling for grip.

"On the option tyre it's unbelievable. With the graining I had on the option tyre, I had to come in. But I think a lot of people had the same experience, except perhaps the Red Bulls, so it's going to be an interesting one. I don't think you'll be seeing a long first stint on the option tyre, that's for sure."

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