Lewis Hamilton has given a thumbs-up to his first return to the track in two months.
Hamilton's outing in testing at Portimao was his first since winning the World Championship, in rather nailbiting style, back in November. One notable difference from last year is that his new charger, the MP4-24, carries the number one on its nose, but for Hamilton the significance of the day was simply getting behind the wheel again.
"It was good to be back working with the team - it felt like I'd hardly been away because it was easy to slip back into the routine," Hamilton told Autosport.
"It's amazing to think that, while I've been to Woking throughout the winter, I haven't properly driven a Formula One car since the Brazilian Grand Prix two months ago, but everything very quickly felt normal today."
It was, though, just a fleeting return to action for Hamilton with team-mate Heikki Kovalainen scheduled to drive the MP4-24 on Thursday.
The 24-year-old managed to get 81 laps under is belt during the test, clocking a fastest lap of 01:30.242, nearly three seconds slower than Sebastien Buemi, the quickest man on the day.
Hamilton, though, wasn't at all fazed about not finishing at the top of the timesheets.
"This first test was all about getting used to the new car and the new regulations and about giving my feedback to the engineers," he told the Daily Mail.
"It wasn't about setting a fast time. I'm pleased to report the car feels good, but it's going to be an extremely busy winter.
"I've only been in the car for a day and our job list is already enormous. With the limitations on testing this will be an intense time and absolutely critical for every team."
For the pictures, click here.
Source : Planet F1
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