• Chinese Grand Prix

We don't have F-duct advantage - Hamilton

McLaren was fastest in practice in Shanghai © Getty Images

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• Race:
• Chinese Grand Prix

• Championship:
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• Drivers:
• Jenson Button
• |
• Lewis Hamilton

• Teams:
• McLaren

Despite setting the fastest time in free practice for the Chinese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton is not letting his hopes get too high ahead of qualifying.

Hamilton led the field in the second session after his team-mate Jenson Button set the pace during the morning running. McLaren's high top speed, a result of its F-duct, was expected to give it an advantage in Shanghai but Hamilton said the overall package of the car is no better than its competitors.

"We may have topped the timesheets in each session, but I don't necessarily think today's times make us the favourites for this race," he said. "The car does feel good, but our pace looks pretty similar to some of the other cars on long runs. Everyone talks about us having a straight-line advantage, but that's not true - other cars have the same speed as us at the end of the straight.

"We're a little bit quicker than some teams, but, equally, they're able to run more downforce. It's about getting a good balance - and we feel we've got that. We're continuing with the good feeling we felt in Malaysia, but we've made some further subtle changes and they were encouraging. I come out of today with a positive feeling - we'll now keep our heads down and concentrate on gaining a strong qualifying position tomorrow."

Button was pleased with his start to the weekend, but he too is not getting carried away.

"Today's been good," he said. "This afternoon was a little frustrating: on my new-tyre run I ran into traffic - which you seem to get in every session - but the actual work we've done, and the direction we've taken, has been positive. There are a few more things we need to do, but we're almost getting the maximum out of the car - especially on the long runs. We're moving in the right direction.

"There are a few things we can still tweak over the course of this evening, but I think we've come here with a pretty good car from lap one. Of course, some of the teams haven't shown their hand yet, but you can tell from the long-run times that they're competitive. Maybe we're not on their pace yet, but we've got tonight to make further improvements to the car."

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