Hamilton still fastest as qualifying looms
Lewis Hamilton's return to the top of the Formula One time sheets continued on Saturday morning, as the reigning world champion led the field in the final practice session at the Nurburgring. At the wheel of substantial changes to his MP4-24, the ...
Lewis Hamilton's return to the top of the Formula One time sheets continued on Saturday morning, as the reigning world champion led the field in the final practice session at the Nurburgring.
At the wheel of substantial changes to his MP4-24, the Briton was two tenths ahead of Fernando Alonso's Renault and the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, two hours before the decisive qualifying phase under dark clouds in the Eifel region.
In total contrast, Heikki Kovalainen's struggle in the Silverstone-spec McLaren continued as he was 19th fastest.
"Unfortunately, we didn't have enough pieces for Heikki to have the same package, so that is why the difference is reflected between the two drivers," said the Mercedes-powered team's technical boss Paddy Lowe.
He said the team is happy to see Hamilton's name back at the top but "the job now is to translate that into some points on Sunday".
"But definitely we have made a step with the car. Lewis is very happy with it. The pieces that we brought all work. We hope to see that that will translate to a real difference," Lowe added.
Led by Sebastian Vettel, the two Red Bulls were fourth and fifth quickest, while championship leader Jenson Button managed no better than 11th best.
Share Or Save This Story
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
Charles Leclerc: “McLaren and Red Bull did a step forward that we didn’t do”
Who slept worst last night: Lewis Hamilton
How the chase to catch Mercedes is unfolding
Alpine lost Fuji WEC victory by 0.591s because it “didn’t want to sacrifice a car”
Charles Leclerc: “McLaren and Red Bull did a step forward that we didn’t do”
The one detail that impresses Red Bull most about Isack Hadjar's "outstanding" F1 return
"Crazy and unfair": Anger over Nicolo Bulega extensively testing Ducati's 850cc MotoGP bike
Why Mercedes is still quicker than McLaren
Baku late-race chaos almost costs George Russell victory over Max Verstappen
How George Russell claimed his career-best pole margin in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying
How the chase to catch Mercedes is unfolding
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments