Lewis Hamilton struggling for grip despite topping Friday times
Lewis Hamilton topped Friday's FP2 session in Sochi for Mercedes after an eventful day that saw him have several spins and lock-up moments.
Hamilton complained of a general lack of grip from the Pirelli tires at a track that has proved tricky for drivers in past years.
“I'm pushing like crazy,” he said. “Hence the couple of offs I've had. I'm trying everything to really exploit the grip and the car to the maximum.
“It's just these tires, there's no grip in these tires out there, and you're sliding around like crazy. It's how they are, they've always been like that. It's just here it's not a very abrasive surface.
“It's like driving on ice with these tires, it's amazing. Hopefully it gets warmer and rubber goes down on the track this year, and it gets better.
“The track has got very low grip and the tires on top have very low grip in general, even the supersofts.”
Despite his apparent frustration, Hamilton was happy with his quick lap.
“Normally we do two runs, one on each tire, and I destroyed one tire with a spin, so I had just the one run at the end. It seemed to go well, it seemed to be quite smooth, and we've generally got quite good pace. So I'm quite happy with it.
“The last session was better at least, but Nico didn't get a lap, so we don't know where he is, so I'm definitely not getting ahead of myself right now. I'll just keep working and chipping away at it. This is a weak circuit for me, but I think I've found something, so hopefully we'll see the result of that tomorrow.”
The consensus is that Sochi will once again produce a one-stop race on Sunday, although Lewis is hoping that it will be different.
“My guys said it was two, at least a two. I don't know yet. I hope it's more than one, because a one-stop strategy is just crap for racing, it's crap for TV. I think we need to do more, it makes it more exciting. At least two, three, four, that's how it should be.”
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