Mercedes Benz

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Budapest, Hungary, Aug 01, 2008

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the day after Friday's two free practice sessions for the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring, near Budapest. In the afternoon, Lewis completed 35 laps and set a best time of 1m20.554. His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen completed 33 laps and was third fastest with a 1m20.760. This morning, Heikki was third fastest with a 1m21.410 (17 laps) followed by Lewis in fourth with a 1m21.535 (18 laps).


Comments

Lewis Hamilton
“The track was very dusty this morning so we took our time before starting our run programme. Once again, the car felt good even though I encountered quite a lot of traffic during both sessions. This afternoon, I also got to try the revised aero package for the first time – it definitely seemed to make the car better balanced, which is very encouraging.”

Heikki Kovalainen
“Another positive day for us. The car started the day pretty strongly but we were able to keep improving it throughout both sessions. This afternoon, I was able to find a particularly good balance and focused on conserving the tyres rather than going for a laptime. I had a little bit of graining, but things look very promising for tomorrow.”

Ron Dennis
"Today we ran two more-or-less trouble-free sessions, save for a few traffic issues this morning which aren't unusual on this circuit. Having said that, those traffic issues weren't sufficient to disrupt our programme unduly. The aero package we've developed for this race appears to have delivered the predicted results, and the performance of the car is encouraging so far."

Norbert Haug
"A good and constructive start to the weekend. We simulated race conditions and both Lewis and Heikki posted fast and consistent laptimes. With more rubber on the asphalt, the conditions will change tomorrow – so it is too early to judge precisely where we are compared to the competition.”


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