Lewis Hamilton finished sixth fastest on the opening day of practice at Zandvoort, positioning himself ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc, despite two unplanned spins during the session.
Why it matters: While Mercedes aims to close the gap to front-runners, Hamilton's performance, even with minor incidents, showed a glimmer of potential against Ferrari, though a significant deficit to McLaren persists.
The details:
- Hamilton ended the day P6, with a time eight tenths slower than Lando Norris's leading McLaren.
- He acknowledged a challenging start to FP1 but noted progress was made throughout the day.
- Regarding his spins, Hamilton explained:
- "The first one was just pushing too much." He also cited the car's unpredictable ride quality.
- "The second one, I touched the grass and had a snap and that was that." He emphasized he was pushing hard, which he viewed as a positive.
What's next:
- Hamilton believes he was a tenth up before his spin in the crucial run, with more time to find in the final corner.
- He admitted it would be difficult to find the necessary eight tenths to challenge the top but pledged the team would "try our best" to improve the setup overnight for qualifying.