Lewis Hamilton says ‘we’ll see if the car is the same tomorrow’ after practice double

Lewis Hamilton is remaining cautious about Mercedes’ chances at the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix after completing a surprise practice double.

Following a dreadful outing in Brazil, seven-time world champion Hamilton bounced back to head both Friday practice sessions in Sin City as Mercedes made an encouraging start to the weekend.

Hamilton led Mercedes teammate George Russell in the first session and was a fraction ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris in the second.

Mercedes have often made strong starts on Fridays before slipping back as the weekend progresses this season, and Hamilton is wary of a repeat.

“Pretty good. It’s the first time I’ve actually had a day like that this year I think,” Hamilton said.

“The car was feeling really, really good in P1. P2, less so. So we’ve got some work to do overnight. Difficult to know exactly where we are, or why we are where we are, but really enjoyed driving the track.

“We’ll see whether the car is still the same tomorrow.”

Despite being fastest in both practice sessions, Hamilton warned Mercedes have improvements to make with their long run pace.

“Hot conditions are a little bit worse for us but the race pace is still not great,” he explained.

“We have got work to do overnight to figure out how we are going to get better race pace without losing natural pace throughout the lap.

“But it was nice to get consecutive sectors and the car not throw me off.”

Asked if he thinks Mercedes can be in the mix for pole position and the win, Hamilton replied: “I’m feeling good in myself. Coming into this weekend I knew it’s not my driving.

“I’ve just got to work hard overnight not to make big changes and I hope I can get some good rest tonight.”