Lewis Hamilton wishes he had completed more laps in FP1, as the cancellation of the afternoon running eventually limited the Mercedes driver to four laps across the opening day of free practice for the US Grand Prix.
Although the morning session took place on a damp Circuit of the Americas, drivers quickly swapped their Pirelli full wets for intermediate tyres. Hamilton immediately felt comfortable on track but ultimately did not stay out for long.
“My engineers wanted me to save the tyres for FP2,” explained the championship leader. “I wish now that I did the session because I didn’t know it would rain so much [in the afternoon], but it’s OK and we did get some running. I just hope that we still get a race, that’s the most important thing.
“The surface was amazing. The grip was unbelievable on an intermediate tyre, so in the wet it is going to be good fun. The surface is different at every track you go to, but I think this is one of the grippiest for an intermediate tyre we have. It was quite unusual. No aquaplaning at the time.”
Despite his low Friday mileage, Hamilton was still able to clock the fifth fastest time in FP1, albeit 1.7s adrift of Mercedes team-mate and pace-setter Nico Rosberg who only did three more laps than the Briton.
With local weather forecast announcing similar, if not worse, weather conditions on Saturday, qualifying could well be postponed to Sunday morning. The eventuality does not seem to bother Hamilton, as long as he can enjoy some time free time in exchange. And the 30-year-old already has plans.
“Everyone will be in the same boat. If that’s the case I hope I get the day off and get to go to the movies with Roscoe [Hamilton’s bulldog]. He loves going to the movies, he watches for about five minutes and then passes out and snores so loud that everyone looks at me. He sits in the chair next to me and we put the 3D glasses on him.”
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