Mercedes checks all the boxes of its program, despite the threat of rain

Bottas: FP1 → 2nd, 1:21.972 (31 laps) / FP2 → 1st, 1:21.406 (25 laps)

This Friday is timely for the Finn! Perhaps chastened by a difficult last weekend, finishing in fifth position, the former Williams driver has made some progress toward his personal comeback. Diligent and thorough (he used all three tire compounds in FP1), Valtteri Bottas was delighted with a much better day than expected, with rain lurking nearby.

« First of all, it was nice to ride on the dry today! All the weather forecasts said that rain could have affected our sessions. But we were able to carry out our plan! »

Second and four-tenths behind Hamilton in the morning, Bottas especially shone in the afternoon. The difference with Hamilton worked in his favor during the first sector. The margin is small, but his name is indeed the highest on the timesheet. According to his words, there wasn’t much in it.

« In FP1, we were going in the wrong direction with our setup. But we managed to change our settings for FP2, and the car then behaved better. The car is in good shape, but obviously, the next two days are what count. »

Hamilton: FP1 → 1st, 1:21.537 (28 laps) / FP2 → 2nd, 1:21.462 (24 laps)

The progress of the Briton between the two sessions was intriguing. While the two Ferraris and Bottas gained between five and nine tenths, the 2008 world champion only improved his FP1 time by one tenth, on a track that was nonetheless hotter and more abrasive.

That being said, disappointment was not visible on his face. Despite some vibrations in FP1 with his soft tires and a brief excursion into the gravel at the exit of the second chicane, his words reflected those of a man comfortable in his own skin.

It was a beautiful day, aside from the issues. We reached the expected number of laps. The car is well balanced. We just have a bit of work to do to extract a little more performance. It seems quite tight between us and the Ferraris. I guess it will be similar to the last race!

Same message for Bottas, James Allison, the technical director for the team, indicates that the weather was taken into consideration on this day. The former Lotus and Ferrari (notably) employee seemed more worried than his two drivers.

Due to weather forecasts, it was an almost abnormal Friday! We were quite pessimistic and thought the rain was going to arrive. This means we moved part of our afternoon program to the morning. Considering the unusual nature of the day, we are happy with how we worked. Both drivers were competitive on long and short stints. There is a threat of rain for tomorrow, which could flatten what we learned today. But the race will be dry! Being strong in the dry today was therefore a good sign!

From our special correspondent in Monza