Hamilton buoyed by strong start in Azerbaijan as he and Ferrari ‘really starting to see progress’

Lewis Hamilton was all smiles following Friday’s pair of practice sessions for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, declaring that he and Ferrari are “really starting to see the progress come through” in what has been a mixed season so far.

After ending FP1 in 13th position via a visit to the barriers, Hamilton worked his way down to a pace-setting time of 1m 41.293s in FP2 – leading a Ferrari 1-2 over team mate Charles Leclerc.

Put to him that it was a particularly positive day, amid a rollercoaster first campaign with the Scuderia, Hamilton replied: “It really has [been] – thank the Lord!

“It wasn’t so positive [early on]… I would say [Free Practice 1] was a bit of a mess. This is a circuit where you have to have mega confidence on the brakes, and I had some problems with the brakes. Also, every track I’m going to is the first time driving the Ferrari at that circuit, so acclimatising to that is not easy.

“We made some changes going into [FP2] and the brakes finally were working perfectly. I was able to really make some big advantages in terms of gaining on the brakes.

“I’m really happy to see the progress and it just goes to show the direction we’ve been going as a team. I’m really, really grateful for everyone’s patience and everyone pushing so hard, because we’re really starting to see the progress come through.”

Asked how big the day might be for himself and the team, in terms of making a breakthrough, Hamilton continued slightly more cautiously: “It’s just practice day. I’d say let’s not go too far.

“I just want to say that I really am grateful for everyone continuing to push, the support I’ve been getting back from everyone at the factory, everyone here, their patience, their support, every weekend just lifting me up... the guys in the garage, all of our marketing team – they’re really making a big difference.

“Then the Tifosi, we’ve been beaming from the energy from the Tifosi in the last race [at Monza] – I’m hoping to take that energy that they gave us all the way through the rest of the season.”

On the other side of the garage, four-time Baku polesitter Leclerc offered some insight into where he thinks Ferrari might be in the pecking order this weekend – the Monegasque convinced championship leaders McLaren have much more to show.

“It was okay,” Leclerc said of his day. “I think there’s a lot more potential, especially coming from me – I didn’t do a great job today. Overall we seem to be pretty strong, so it’s good.

“But, and there’s a big but, it looks like McLaren is in another world, literally. I think people will be very surprised tomorrow because Lando [Norris] didn’t finish some laps which were very, very impressive. I doubt we will be in the fight with them, but compared to the others it seems that we are kind of in a good place.”

Pushed on what might be possible as the weekend develops, Leclerc signed off: “I don’t think there’s a battle for the win for now, but never say never. I think in 2021 and in many Qualifyings here I felt like it wasn’t possible, and at the end we kind of made it. I’ll keep my hopes high, but it looks unlikely.”