Hamilton: Race pace ‘has not been so good’

Lewis Hamilton admits his race pace “has not been so good” in Friday free practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as he struggled to match Nico Rosberg’s consistency over long runs.

Hamilton topped the opening session at Yas Marina Circuit but his Mercedes team-mate responded by going faster in FP2, like he had done in Brazil two weeks ago.

Perhaps more worrying for the triple world champion is the fact that he suffered more tyre degradation than his main rival, which resulted in inconsistent lap times during his race simulation.

“Race pace doesn’t feel very good at the moment but it always changes when we get to the actual race, but I will make some changes hopefully that help with the graining,” Hamilton said.

The Briton has not been on pole position since the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in early September but he added that preparing for Sunday’s contest will represent the bulk of his forthcoming programme.

“It’s generally the same every weekend but this weekend so far the long run pace hasn’t been so good so that’s what we’ve got to work on.

“It’s very hard to overtake here, so like a majority of the tracks it’s important to be on pole, but it doesn’t mean it’s impossible to win [if you don't start P1].”

Hamilton has been fairly outshone by Rosberg since wrapping this year’s title in Austin, with the ex-McLaren protégé pointing to potential set-up modifications on the Mercedes W06 that would have swung the momentum.

“I’ve been having difficulty with the balance after they made changes after Singapore but I’m trying to shuffle my way around to try my way around to find a good balance, it’s getting better.”

AS IT HAPPENED: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP2

Eric Silbermann's Abu Dhabi grumpy preview

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