Hamilton: Paul Ricard circuit messes with your head

Lewis Hamilton says Paul Ricard’s all tarmac run-off areas make finding reference points at the track challenging but was still content with his Friday practice after topping both sessions.

The defending Formula 1 world champion started the French Grand Prix with his ‘2.1 specification’ updated Mercedes power unit and despite not fully unleashing its optimum performance the British driver secured top spot in both sessions, while in FP2 pulled out over seven-tenths of a second on closest rival Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull.

While Hamilton was hesitant to assess his pace compared to his rivals, fearing sandbagging by Ferrari, the Mercedes driver says he enjoyed getting up to speed at a new circuit for 2018. The French GP makes its return to F1 after a 10-year absence at Paul Ricard which last hosted the sport back in 1990.

“It is always a challenge coming to a new circuit and the place is beautiful, really stunning down here,” Hamilton said. “With the track you are constantly learning new things so I love the challenge of trying to get into the swing of it before everyone else. There is a lot of different lines you can take as well. Friday is ticked off and now we need to carry this on for the rest of the weekend.

“I miss the grass, there is no grass anywhere. Apart from the colourful lines it is difficult to tell where the hell you are most of the time which is the part that I dislike.

“There are a couple of places down the back straight and you are coming down the long straight trying to find out where the corner is. There is one junction that turns off, that is not it, then there is another junction which turns off on the right, that’s not it, then another on the left.

“It is really, really hard to see. It messes with your mind a couple of times but you get used it to it.”

Hamilton is looking to take back the lead in the F1 world drivers’ championship after falling behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by one point last time out at the Canadian Grand Prix.