Hamilton: 'Night and day difference' between FP1 and FP2

Having topped morning practice in Monaco on Thursday, Lewis Hamilton was shocked by how differently things felt after lunch.

“It was handling really good this morning," Hamilton said. "FP1 was really good, the car was feeling great.

"But this afternoon, for whatever reasons, the tyres weren’t working," he continued. "There was night and day difference, black and white.

"We couldn’t work the tyres for some reason. There was lots of sliding about.

"That’s something we have to study and fix for Saturday," he added. "Lot of studying to do to find out where we went wrong, but I’m confident in my guys."

At least Monaco's unusual schedule - with practice taking place on Thursday, and Friday officially a 'rest day' for the teams - works in Mercedes' favour.

"We have two days to work on the car," Hamilton agreed. "It gives the guys here more time to work on the car. It's spread over two days, rather than everything tonight."

Vettel takes charge in Monaco for FP2

Even if the team does get on top of its set-up issues, effectively losing a session of practice puts them on the back foot to their rivals this weekend.

"Ferrari are very quick again and Red Bull are also looking good this weekend," Hamilton acknowledged. "We're looking forward to a real fight on Saturday."

Hamilton had been relieved to find that the new 2017 aerodynamic and tyre regulations hadn't had an adverse effect on racing at Monaco.

It was feared that the wider cars might be more difficult to thread their way around the narrow streets of Monaco. But Hamilton felt that if anything, the new cars were actually better suited to the venue.

“You get used to it real quick," he said. "It’s like you driving a normal car and then driving an SUV. You get used to it.

“It’s the same as before. The car is a lot better, it’s got more grip. If anything, it might be easier. It feels great.

"Monaco is always amazing to drive, and it’s definitely the best car I’ve driven round here."

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Gallery: All the pictures from Thursday in Monaco

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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.