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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton gave positive comments about Friday’s race, claiming his team looked closer to the front of the field than at any point in the first six races of the year.
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Despite an impressive burst of speed, Mercedes had a difficult start to the season.
However, the opening day of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix suggested that the Anglo-German team may have taken a step forward thanks to a series of improvements just made to the W15.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished the opening session seventh, but produced an even more encouraging performance in the second hour practice session to finish fourth overall.
“It was a good start to the weekend.
We had a productive day and were able to run all three systems.
The car had good balance and I felt a positive feeling.
Some of the other teams look fast, especially McLaren and Ferrari, but we are much closer than we have been so far this season.
But nothing is progressing so let’s see what happens tomorrow.
“Thank you so much to everyone at the factory for working so hard to provide us with the latest information.
“I’m seeing an improvement in the car and performance on track,” added the seven-time world champion.
On the other side of the box, George Russell was also encouraged after his first two training sessions.
The time trial winner finished the first practice session in an impressive second place, setting the fifth fastest time ( ) on the second one-hour lap.
Russell spoke about his day and also praised the team for the upgrade package which will debut at Imola this weekend.
“The car felt great today and both Lewis and I were happy to be behind the wheel.
” We looked reasonably competitive and were a little closer to the front of the field than we were in Miami.
Tomorrow in qualifying we will find out exactly where we are in the standings.
McLaren looked very strong along with Ferrari, but I hope he can get a little more speed and get closer to them.
As usual, there are fine edges.
“The team did a great job updating the car quickly.
” At this point, I feel like I’ve definitely made a step forward.
“It’s been great to see the team motivated after some tough racing lately,” Russell said.
