• Interview: Lewis Hamilton

'Testing has been as different as day and night'

Lewis Hamilton: 'I got out of the car smiling, and all the problems I had in the last car I don't have with this one' © Sutton Images

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ESPNF1's Dan Knutson spoke to Lewis Hamilton after his first day's testing in the new McLaren.

A year ago the car was not great, and you said you knew that from the start. How was it today?
Lewis Hamilton:The feeling was like the difference between night and day compared to the first lap in the first test day in 2009. It is a really positive feeling. Obviously I have kept a close eye on the development of this car, and the results we got at the end of 2009, seeing the car evolve, and having input into it, I was very excited to get into the car today to see just what parts we have improved. I got out of the car smiling, and all the problems I had in the last car I don't have with this one. But there are still a lot of areas we can improve on.

Have you got the results you wanted from your first test day?
For me, absolutely. It has gone well. Obviously the Ferrari seems very quick and so does the Sauber. But we don't know what fuel loads everybody else is on. We felt quite comfortable in what we were doing. But there is obviously quite a bit of time we need to find.

How does the car feel on a heavy fuel load?
It doesn't really feel much different for me. The only reason I say that is because the car feels quite comfortable with that fuel load. I am looking forward to the next couple of tests that we have just to get some more running, more longer runs, and to really see the behaviour with the tyres.

McLaren test driver Gary Paffett said on Monday that he had some concerns about the narrower front tyres. What is your opinion?
The tyres for me were fairly similar to the tyres that we have had in the past. It was just that the front tyre was a little bit weak, a little bit more understeer, but otherwise they behave the same.

There are eight top drivers in four top teams. What do you think about this season?
It is going to be better, really. It should help to give us the best show we have seen in F1. The great thing is that the rules have not changed drastically, so the cars should pretty much be evolutions of previous years except for ours, which is not an evolution. Hopefully the cars will be much better and a lot closer, the top teams especially.

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