Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMercedes

Mercedes still in dark over recovery - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes still doesn't know if it is solved its problems from the Singapore Grand Prix due to wet weather at Suzuka.

Both FP1 and FP2 for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix took place in wet conditions, preventing any running on the slick tyre. While Mercedes is not expecting to struggle as it did in Singapore a week ago, Hamilton says the team could not learn anything about its performance on Friday.

"Absolutely not, I don’t even know where we are," Hamilton said. "We’ll find out tomorrow.

"Have you heard of the phrase diddly squat? That’s exactly what [we learned] today!"

Conceding there was a bit he could learn, Hamilton says the whole field will be in for a busy FP3 on Saturday.

"Every time you get in the car you learn something but today’s not been particularly fun and there’s not been much to learn. We learned it all in the last race here when it was raining, so not learning much, much more today.

"The balance is going to be so much different so it’s irrelevant what we do today because they say it’s going to be dry. It’s a shame for the fans as a lot of people turned up today."

REPORT: Kvyat edges Rosberg in wet FP2 at Suzuka

AS IT HAPPENED: Japanese Grand Prix FP2

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.