Lewis Hamilton admitted it felt strange to begin his final weekend as a Mercedes driver after the first day of practice at Yas Marina.
He joined the team 12 years ago but agreed a deal to join Ferrari next year. Following a poor race in Qatar last week, where he finished outside of the points, Hamilton said he was happier with the car so far.
“It felt better today,” he told the official F1 channel. “Not been such a bad day.
“It’s very, very surreal. I’ve just tried to be, really, as present as I can be today, and just enjoying every moment. So, from arriving to seeing the engineers, just really taking moments and capturing them as much as I can, like getting ready and getting in the car.
“I’ve really enjoyed the day, I’ve really enjoyed driving the car today and working with the guys in the garage and the engineers. We’ve got some work to do, the McLaren’s still so fast, as is Ferrari, but we’re in the mix, kind of. But got to find some time.”
Hamilton admitted he’s “trying to keep my emotions under control as much as I can” this weekend. “As I said yesterday I’ve not been great at it this year, I’ve been very up and down. I’m trying to channel it into the car.
“I have so much love for the team, I’ve been wanting to do really well for them for ages. There’s one last go at it. I won’t change too much on the car in the car tonight in the hope that tomorrow we’ll be there or thereabouts.”
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His team mate George Russell said today was more challenging as his side of the garage prioritised its preparations for 2025.
“We struggled a bit, but it’s only Friday,” he said. “We’re trying a lot of things in preparation for next year. Obviously this is our last opportunity and we wanted to go, let’s say a little bit more radical with some of the set-up options just to see if there’s anything more we can learn.
“So I’m hoping tomorrow be a bit more of a normal day and just go from there.”
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