Hamilton says 2018 Mercedes F1 car a "work in progress"

Lewis Hamilton believes his Mercedes team is well positioned heading into the 2018 Formula 1 season following another solid day of pre-season testing at Barcelona. 

Mercedes is bidding to retain both world championship titles this year to match Ferrari’s all-time record of five consecutive titles won between 2000-2004, while Hamilton is looking to claim a fifth drivers’ crown to move level with Juan Manuel Fangio in second-place in the list of most championship wins, behind only Michael Schumacher. 

While Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo topped the second day of the final pre-season test with the fastest time ever set around the Spanish Grand Prix venue on Pirelli’s softest tyre compound, Hamilton got within 0.3s of the Australian’s time on the slower ultrasofts. 

“It's still a work in progress, but it's definitely going in the right direction,” Hamilton said after completing 90 laps in the morning. “The team's working hard - both here and back at the factory - to continue to climb the upwards gradient which we're currently on. 

“Today has been positive. The car is feeling good and the tyres are working. It's nice to have some good weather so we can really try and get in the mileage. The reliability has been good so far, which is a sign of all the great, hard work that the team has put in over the winter. 

"I'm just so proud that I'm driving a creation that these guys have all worked to the bone to create,” he added. “I’m proud to be the one who gets to go out there and try to exploit this car and bring them the results they deserve.”

Valtteri Bottas took over driving duties in the afternoon and recorded a further 85 laps as Mercedes once again split its running. The Finn echoed his teammate’s comments, warning that Mercedes is yet to extract the full potential from its 2018 challenger, the W09. 

“We definitely made some improvements once again. We've made good progress since last year, but some other cars look quick as well. 

"We had decent temperatures so we could do some proper testing and learned a lot from today. We have some work to do to get more out of the soft compounds. 

“I always enjoy trying to extract everything out of the car. But we still haven't unlocked the full potential of the package we have, so there's more to come."