Hamilton reacts to Mercedes upgrades: "It's bouncing still, quite a bit"
F1 News
Mercedes arrived at Silverstone with brand new parts to their car, including a new floor as Mercedes hope to move up the grid. Lewis Hamilton finished FP2 in second place, his best finish in a practice session this season but he still reports bouncing.
Testing the updates
On the smooth Silverstone circuit, the Mercedes car looked to attack the corners better. Engineer Andrew Shovlin explained how Mercedes are much closer to Ferrari and Red Bull when it comes to the long runs and the single lap speed, but Hamilton knows there's more work to do.
"It has been a good day. I wish we had more running in P1, but that beautiful weather here at Silverstone makes it so special because it can be raining on one corner and dry elsewhere. It was just wet at 6/7 and into 9. And it was dry everywhere else. You couldn't stay out on inters then too wet for slicks. P2 was good. It's bouncing still, quite a bit. Not on the straight necessarily but through the corners it's harsh. Not physically harsh but just in the car," Hamilton told Sky Sports.
"There is still work to do but it feels like a small set forward. You just can't drive the tracks the same with this car how stiff it is and the bouncing. Most of the porpoising is the stiffness of the car. The upgrades had nothing to do with ride, it's just downforce. Difficult to feel it coming from a different circuit. Low downforce to high downforce," Hamilton concluded.
The action will continue on Saturday with one more practice session before the drivers go into qualifying and Sunday's race.