Lewis Hamilton completed 97 laps of the Bahrain International Circuit fdor his Mercedes team on Tuesday as the first in-season test of 2017 kicked off in Bahrain. The triple World Champions recorded the best overall time for the day behind the wheel of the W08 EQ Power+, clocking a 1:31.358 on the Soft compound Pirelli tyre late in the afternoon.
The day's programme focused on evaluating new parts to be introduced over the next few races of the 2017 Formula One World Championship, aerodynamic analysis and setup work to address issues with poor rear grip that he experienced in Sunday's race at the same venue.
The hot conditions experienced over the weekend continued for the test and although it made things ‘tricky' with an early on track stoppage, Hamilton was happy with the days progress.
“Today was tricky with it being so hot and very gusty but we still managed to get through plenty of work,” he said. “Our focus was on advancing our understanding of the tyres and also the rear of the car so that we can improve our long runs - particularly during the race and on the SuperSoft compound. We came here with a specific goal, so it was positive to get on top of that with the team. Sochi is a smoother track and less abrasive on the tyres, so they can go quite a long way. Hopefully we can rely on the pace of our car there rather than our use of the tyres.
Mercedes-Benz Power Units completed a total of 1,402km on day one and for the second and final day on Wednesday, Valtteri Bottas will take over the testing duties from his teammate.
