Mercedes duo praying for rain after hot Friday practice

Mercedes Formula 1 drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are hoping for rain during the remainder of the German Grand Prix weekend after Friday’s sweltering temperatures.

The German manufacturer trailed chief rival Ferrari throughout both practice sessions at Hockenheim on Friday amid the highest temperatures seen so far in the 2019 season, with track conditions reaching 57.2c and air temps peaking at 37.5c.

Mercedes has introduced a new aerodynamic upgrade at this weekend’s race, which includes an update aimed at improving the cooling problems that led to its worst result of the year at the Austrian Grand Prix.

“The tyres don’t like the temperature, so very slow out laps and they don’t last very long,” Hamilton explained.

“It’s just about trying to keep the tyres in the working range, they are just always a little bit above the range, so always just overheating and that’s been the main issue today. But everyone is in the same boat.

“If it’s going to rain over the weekend this is kind of a waste of a day,” he added.

“I don’t think we learned much today with it being so hot. If it’s cooler on the weekend and dry nothing from today really applies.

“The tyres will come towards us and everybody will be quicker and more comfortable on the track but we will wait and see.”

Asked if he would prefer rain, Hamilton replied: “I love the rain so any rain is always a good thing.”

Bottas echoed Hamilton’s comments but felt Mercedes had made progress with its latest update to improve its overheating issues.

“It was extremely hot and I cannot remember driving in these kind of conditions but anyway it is the same for everyone,” Bottas said.

“It makes it more tricky for the drivers and especially for the cars and tyres, lots of overheating, especially in sector three with the corner combinations.

“It becomes so sensitive with the car sliding a little bit more, you pick up 10 degrees of extra tyre temperature and you can lose two-tenths like that. So quite sensitive.

“There could be rain on the way and the same on Sunday so it is going to be a day that we need to be very reactive and dynamic with the weather and the car setup,” he added.

“We haven’t really run in the wet so that should be nice. I actually hope for rain as it would be nice to try.”