- Jerez Test - Day Two
Hamilton: New car a step forward for Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton is encouraged by his first taste of Mercedes' 2015 car and is undaunted by his first day of testing ending prematurely in Jerez.
Hamilton completed 91 laps on Monday, adding to the 157 completed by team-mate Nico Rosberg on the first day, though a water leak cut his session short by an hour. Hamilton says he sees similarities in the W06 Hybrid to the car which he took to the drivers' championship last year and is paying no attention to the fact he finished fourth overall.
"It feels pretty much the same, feels like we've got more downforce, so I think we have taken a step," Hamilton said. "How big? I can't say. We weren't out there trying to do fast lap times. It's good we've had such good running over the first two days, good reliability. But we will continue to work on that which is the foundation we want to improve on. As for the water leak, I can't tell you too much about it. The team will work on it overnight and the car will be fine for tomorrow."
When asked if it was a satisfying start, Hamilton replied: "It was, I got in a good amount of laps, I got a good feel for the car, back in quite quickly, so overall it was good."
The world champion admits the car did not feel perfect but does not think it ever would during the first days of testing.
"It's the same as last year. It's the first day of testing and none of the corners ever feel good the first time you drive the car. The car is the worst it will be this year, the balance wasn't perfect because we weren't working on set up, so it could be better. But there are lots of positives, of course we got good mileage and we should do tomorrow."
Mercedes dominated in 2014 but was hardly bullet proof, with several reliability issues throughout the season, and Hamilton says that is a key focus this winter.
"We focus on all things, but of course reliability would massively help, and it's an area last year we could have done better. We were about 80%reliable, whereas we want to be 90 to 95%, so that's something we are working on, and of course we want to be faster."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
