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A contented Lewis Hamilton mentioned he was ‘super-excited’ to be again in motion on Friday after he was second-fastest for Mercedes behind his team-mate Valtteri Bottas in observe for this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The seven-time champion, who missed final weekend’s action-packed Sakhir Grand Prix because of a bout of Covid-19, admitted he wanted just a few laps to settle in once more. “I was very happy and grateful to be back out there and to finish the season feeling strong,” he mentioned.
“I felt super-excited like it was my first day back at school.
“It took some time within the first session to get used to it once more, however the second was higher so not too dangerous total… We bought most of our stuff accomplished.”
He added that it had been a “little bit of a messy day with lots occurring, however we got here by way of it like we all the time do.”
Asked by Sky Sports F1 about his reaction to seeing fellow-Briton George Russell in his car last weekend, Hamilton said he had been impressed.
“I feel George did an incredible job as everybody is aware of,” he said.
“He was at house within the automobile. For me, it was undoubtedly odd as a result of I’ve by no means missed a race in my 27 years of racing.
“One day, I’ll write a book about it, but for now I’ll leave it at that!”
He mentioned he felt no must impress this weekend, however needed to benefit from the season-closing occasion.
“I don’t think I need to do any more than I have done this year,” he mentioned.
“I don’t think that is important at all – I just want to enjoy it, and be here, and be with my team again. It’s a privilege.”
Finn Bottas, embarrassed by the superior tempo of Hamilton’s stand-in George Russell, ‘borrowed’ from Williams, ultimately weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix, reacted with a decided exhibiting on the Yas Marina Circuit.
Bottas clocked a greatest lap in a single minute and 36.276 seconds to outpace Hamilton, again after a bout of Covid-19 that pressured him to overlook an F1 race for the primary time, by 0.203 seconds.
Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull, seven-tenths adrift, on the finish of a session that started and completed with tyre-testing and was additionally interrupted by a red-flag interval after Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo’s Ferrari engine burst into flames.
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His under-pressure Red Bull team-mate Alex Albon was fourth forward of Lando Norris of McLaren, Renault’s Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez of Racing Point and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.
Daniel Ricciardo was ninth for Renault forward of Lance Stroll within the second Racing Point whereas Russell, final weekend’s ‘heartbreak hero’, ended the session within the Williams pit after energy issues.
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