Hamilton gets back to work

Lewis Hamilton returned to the cockpit for his first taste of the 2009 regulations and the team’s new MP4-24 car. While the weather was markedly improved over the previous two days, the morning remained damp, requiring the continued use of an ’08-spec rear wing and intermediate tyres.

The team was briefly hampered at lunchtime by a precautionary engine systems shutdown, which was quickly rectified without the need to change the unit. In the afternoon, conditions sufficiently improved to allow an ’09-spec rear wing and several sets of slicks to be bolted to the car, resulting in Lewis’s best time of 1m30.242.

Hamilton said: "It was good to be back working with the team - it felt like I’d hardly been away because it was easy to slip back into the routine. It’s amazing to think that, while I’ve been to Woking throughout the winter, I haven’t properly driven a Formula 1 car since the Brazilian Grand Prix two months ago, but everything very quickly felt normal today."

"This first test was all about just getting used to the new car and the new regulations and about giving my feedback to the engineers; it wasn’t about setting a fast time. I’m pleased to report that the car feels good, we’ve made lots of progress over the winter and I’m looking forward to developing the car ahead of the Australian Grand Prix."

"It’s going to be an extremely busy winter. I’ve only been in the car for one day and our usual joblist for the weeks ahead is already enormous. With the limitations on testing during the season, and the few sessions we have over the next two months, this is going to be an intense time and absolutely critical for every team."