• Italian Grand Prix - FP2

Hamilton praises team for 'great car'

ESPN Staff
September 7, 2012 « We weren't quick enough - Vettel | Rosberg pleased with improved balance »
Lewis Hamilton: "Everyone's been asking the question (about the future); I'm just trying to remain focused on the job at hand" © Sutton Images
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Lewis Hamilton praised his McLaren team for delivering "a great car" for the Italian Grand Prix after topping the timesheets in the second practice session.

In a close FP2, Hamilton was 0.038s quicker than his team-mate Jenson Button and 0.058s ahead of championship leader Fernando Alonso. While praising the car that McLaren has this weekend, Hamilton warned that in race trim there were a number of teams who looked capable of challenging at the front.

"We do have a great car, the guys have done a fantastic job back at the factory to tune the set-up for the aerodynamic package that we have this weekend," Hamilton said. "Of course it's still very, very close between us and the Ferraris, the Lotuses and Mercedes, but we are not in a bad position. We've still got some work to do to try and improve and find some time - particularly on the long runs."

With speculation about his future the talk of the paddock so far in Monza, Hamilton said he wasn't eager to put an end to it but rather focus on on-track matters.

"I'm just trying to focus on the weekend. Everyone's been asking the question (about the future); I'm just trying to remain focused on the job at hand. That's the most important thing at the moment."

From the Friday sessions Hamilton admitted the biggest question mark was which tyre was going to be the better for the race.

"There's a different working range between the two tyres; the prime is a lower working range so it doesn't particularly like the heat as much. It's going to be interesting to see which tyre still lasts longer on Sunday but hopefully we're not in a bad position."

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