Lewis Hamilton hopes Mercedes are “in the mix” at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as he admitted his final weekend start for the Silver Arrows felt “very surreal”.
Hamilton was fifth fastest in Friday’s second representative practice under the Yas Marina floodlights, a fraction behind Carlos Sainz in the leading Ferrari, although six-tenths clear of pacesetter Lando Norris, as McLaren’s lead start.
The seven-time champion will be racing for the last time as a Mercedes driver in 12 years since Ferrari’s winter move as the 2024 season draws to a close and, feeling a troubled race weekend of late, was happy to get his swan song off to a positive start.
“I felt better today. It wasn’t a bad day,” said an excited Hamilton.
“It’s very surreal and I’ve just tried to be as present as I can be today and just enjoy every moment from arriving to seeing the engineers and really like to take moments and capture them as much as I can.
“Then getting ready and getting in the car… and I really enjoyed the day. I really enjoyed driving the car today, working with the garage guys and the engineers.
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Highlights from Friday’s practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“We have some work to do. McLaren is still as fast as Ferrari. We are kind of mixed up, but we have to find some time.
“It’s never that easy to decide, but I think our long run pace didn’t look too bad today, so that’s a big positive from today. I was much closer to the McLarens. I think we have some work to do in one lap.”
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Lewis Hamilton admitted he underestimated how difficult his final Mercedes year would be and that he didn’t handle his emotions too well ahead of his final race for the team at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
By honest confession on ThursdayThe Brit admitted he wasn’t always in the best position to manage his emotions during his final season at the Silver Arrows, announcing his shock move to Ferrari before the start of the campaign.
Asked how he managed his emotions during his final weekend at Mercedes, Hamilton replied:
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Watch a special two-part Sky Sports feature this weekend celebrating 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton’s incredible journey with Mercedes.
“I said (on Thursday), I haven’t been great at it this year, I’ve definitely been up and down a lot, it’s human emotion, it’s normal, but I’m just really trying to get it right in the car, I I love the team so much and I have wanted to do well for them for many years, but for the last time.
“I won’t change much in the car tonight and hopefully (in qualifying) we’ll be there or thereabouts.”
Russell: McLaren is in a league of its own so far
Team-mate George Russell was certainly finishing the year in more consistent form than Hamilton, but he finished three-tenths of a second behind his team-mate on Friday to finish 13th on the practice two grid.
The weekend has begun in Russell strong response to Max Verstappen’s critical comments about him in Qatar – said it conducted test drives on the W15 on Friday.
“We struggled a bit today, but it’s only Friday,” he said.
“We’re trying a lot of things in preparation for next year. Obviously, this is our last chance, and we wanted to go with, say, some more radical options to see if there’s anything more us we can learn.
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George Russell has hit back at “bully” Max Verstappen after his Qatar penalty, saying someone needs to stand up to the Red Bull driver.
“So hopefully (Saturday) will be a little bit more of a normal day and we’ll go from there.”
While praising his teammate’s efforts, Russell was more pessimistic about where the team ended up Friday compared to the top two teams.
“To be honest, Lewis had some great laps there and I think as a team we’re still a long way from McLaren and Ferrari,” he said.
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Craig Slater took a closer look at how Qatar penalties escalated between George Russell and Max Verstappen after George called the Red Bull driver a “thug”.
“McLaren in particular seem to be in a league of their own at the moment.
“Like I said, Lewis did a great job, but we’re still four-tenths behind the McLarens, so it’s bigger than we normally expect.
“So I expect Ferrari will probably be back in the mix, Max will probably be back in the mix, but hopefully we can make some improvements for tomorrow.”
Sky Sports F1 live Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Saturday December 7
8.10: F1 Academy Race One
10.15. Abu Dhabi GP third practice session (session starts at 10.30am)
12.10: F2 Sprint race
13.15. Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying
14:00. ABU DHABI GP QUALIFYING*
16:00: F1 Academy: Race Two
5:00 PM Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday, December 8
7.10: The third race of the F1 Academy
9.20: F2 feature race
11.30. Grand Prix Sunday. Abu Dhabi GP Rally
13:00 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX
At 15:00. Checkered flag. Abu Dhabi GP reaction
16:00 Teddy’s notebook
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Watch the final race of the 2024 Formula 1 season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1 at 1pm on Sunday. Get Sky Sports F1 or stream via NOW
