Hamilton buoyed by early Mercedes pace despite sizzling seat

Lewis Hamilton’s first day of practice at the Italian Grand Prix was literally a hot one, as he and Mercedes teammate George Russell faced an unexpected and rather uncomfortable problem: scorching seats!

Throughout both of Friday’s sessions at Monza, Hamilton repeatedly voiced his discomfort over the radio, feeling a strange heat in his seat that left him puzzled.

Russell, too, reported similar issues when he took over the car for the second session, after Andrea Kimi Antonelli had driven … for a lap and a half in FP1 before crashing at the Parabolica.

Despite the sweltering conditions, Hamilton remained focused on the job at hand and managed to set the fastest time in FP2, narrowly edging out Lando Norris. But the heat issue was a significant distraction.

"It was ridiculously roasting in the car, and I am not quite sure exactly why," said the seven-time world champion.

"I think it might be down by the radiators there was probably some leakage of hot air. It was very hot, like sitting in the sauna with no shorts on!"

• Read also: Wolff defends Antonelli after FP1 crash: ‘Circumstances are guilty’

Aside from the fiery seat issue, Hamilton was optimistic about the car's performance as he looked ahead to the rest of the weekend.

The Mercedes star was particularly encouraged by how the W15 felt on track, though he did note that the new tarmac at Monza presented a bit of a challenge.

"It's been a good day, it generally felt pretty good, but obviously the new tarmac has been a bit of a challenge, but the car felt good from the start," he explained.

"But in FP1, there was a lot of graining, struggling with the tyres, but then we made some good changes in the break and the car was feeling even better in the second session.”

While things were looking up, Hamilton emphasized the importance of refining their approach, particularly in preparation for the race's long stints.

"There is still some work to do on a few areas, and in the long run so that we can go the distance, I think that is the challenge,” he added.

"It is going to be really important the work we do in the simulator back at the factory and we need to be careful not to put the car out of place like we have done in the past."

On the other side of the Mercedes garage, Russell’s day was obviously limited, but the Briton was confident that the data collected in FP2 would be useful for the rest of the weekend.

“I had a couple of push lap efforts at the end of FP2 but was mainly focused on the long run,” he said.

“The resurfaced track meant that it looked to be ramping up quite a lot throughout the day. We need to be alive to it evolving over the rest of the weekend.

“We've got a lot of good data to go through, even though it wasn't the most productive Friday I've ever had on my side.”

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