Lewis Hamilton: “The closing distances to other cars was definitely getting dangerous”

Lewis Hamilton says the closing distances between cars as they prepare for quick laps was getting dangerous during free practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Friday.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver topped both sessions at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit as Formula 1 began its first weekend in Saudi Arabia.

However, he was unhappy with the way cars were backing up in the final sector ahead of starting their flying laps, with those coming through already on their laps having to dodge traffic as they looked to complete their laps.

“The track was rapid – unbelievably quick and with a lot of grip as well,” said Hamilton.  “Once you get in the rhythm, it’s beautiful to drive.

“The grip was very high from the moment we went out and was similar in both sessions. Traffic can be a problem here, it’s Monaco-esque and the closing distances to other cars was definitely getting dangerous.”

Hamilton says the team tried several different set-up options during practice, and although he ended fastest, he still feels there was plenty of lap time for him and the team to find over the short runs.

“We tried a couple of things with our setup, and although we aren’t rapid on single run pace compared to the others, our long run pace seemed pretty good,” said Hamilton.

“The Medium and Hard tyre both performed well, the Soft is probably a little too soft for the high-speed sections, it feels like the tyre is giving up slightly. I’m generally happy with the setup, we changed a few things in between sessions, and we’ll work with the guys in the factory back home to make sure we have the correct setup for tomorrow.”

Jeddah Track ‘An Adrenaline Rush’ – Valtteri Bottas

Team-mate Valtteri Bottas enjoyed his running on Friday, feeling the track was fun to drive, with the Finn ending inside the top three in both sessions.

Bottas, who is racing in his penultimate race for Mercedes before he joins the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team in 2022, ended third fastest in the first session at Jeddah before finishing only 0.061 seconds behind Hamilton under the floodlights in the evening session.

He was pleased that the new track offered a good level of grip as it made it easier to attack, and he goes into the rest of the weekend with confidence of a strong weekend on board his W12.

“The track is really cool, it’s full-gas and close to the walls at high-speed which is exactly what you want and enjoy – it’s an adrenaline rush,” said Bottas.  “In FP1 the track was better than I expected, a little bit dusty but thanks to the other racing categories running here this weekend, it was improving step by step.

“They have done a nice job with the tarmac here, it was very grippy even though it’s new and with no real bumps, nice and smooth.

“It was good to get confirmation of the grip level here, you base your starting setup on the simulations and estimated grip level, and we started in a good place. The biggest surprise today was the tyres – they lasted well and I’m not sure we’ll see many stops on Sunday. All the compounds seemed to work well here, even though you could feel the Softs giving up slightly in the high-speed corners.”