Hamilton hails 'awesome' new Mercedes
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[February 24, 2017]
By Alan Baldwin
SILVERSTONE, England (Reuters) - Lewis
Hamilton declared his new Mercedes "pretty awesome" on Thursday
after lapping a blustery Silverstone circuit in the car he hopes
will secure him a fourth Formula One world championship.
"It felt incredible," added the Briton, who finished runner-up last
season behind now-retired team mate Nico Rosberg despite winning
more of the 21 races.
"Yesterday was the first time seeing the car come together. It’s the
most detailed piece of machinery I’ve seen so far in Formula One.
"The car feels wider, which it is obviously. The front tyres
obviously feel huge," added the 32-year-old, who won 10 races in
2016 and starts the season with a new team mate in Finland's
Valtteri Bottas.
Formula One has undergone big rule changes over the winter, with
wider front and rear tyres and different aerodynamics designed to
make cars faster, more aggressive and harder to handle.
Lap times should be several seconds quicker than 2016 with cornering
speeds putting more G-forces on the drivers, who have had to bulk up
and add muscle.
Bottas, who has joined from Williams following Rosberg's decision to
retire only days after taking the title, has yet to win a grand
prix.
He has already said that he is not intending to play second fiddle
to his team mate, however, and the pairing start on equal terms.
"I think I have done the most amount of training of any winter so
far. I have done some good training camps and feel in the best shape
I've ever been, definitely ready for the season ahead," said the
Finn.
The new car was first presented to fans online, with
the drivers pulling the covers off the W08 behind closed garage
doors before it was wheeled out to the media shivering on the
Silverstone straight.
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Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton poses during the launch Reuters / Eddie
Keogh Livepic
The team were then set to complete a limited 100km filming day in
the afternoon with both drivers taking a turn.
"The dominant feeling in the team right now is one of excitement -
the factory is buzzing with anticipation," said team boss Toto
Wolff, whose team have won the last three driver's and constructor's
titles.
"It has been a really motivating challenge to develop a brand new
car concept and I have never seen our determination to succeed
higher than it is right now."
Testing will start in Barcelona on Monday, with Bottas doing the
first stint before handing over to Hamilton for the afternoon.
The season starts in Australia on March 26.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Neville Dalton) [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
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