Lewis Hamilton has applauded his Mercedes group’s “incredible” execution in the principal Formula 1 pre-season test.
The Briton and German colleague Nico Rosberg created record mileage in their new auto in Barcelona, leaving rivals shocked at its consistency.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. Just the strength of this car, it just keeps going,” said world champion Hamilton.
“After winning two championships, it’s so easy to lose focus – but everyone has done an even better job.”
The Mercedes ran so dependably that the group needed to begin utilizing their two drivers on every day, instead of rotating them, to abstain from tiring them out.
Hamilton, 31, added: “It’s just been an incredible weekend for testing for us. Before we came here they were talking about doing 800km (497 miles) a day and I thought that was crazy because I’ve never done that in the past.
“There are no breakdowns and a lot of reliability.”
Mercedes likewise attempted another nose outline on Thursday, the last day of the current week’s test, with various surprising streamlined elements.
“The car looks fantastic,” added Hamilton. “Obviously, we don’t know the pace of the car just yet but what we can say is that it’s gone the distance and that’s half the battle.”
Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari set the pace, with a lap of one moment 23.477 seconds on the new ultra-delicate tire, 0.8secs faster than Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat on the same elastic.
Power India advancement driver Alfonso Celis was third quickest and Kevin Magnussen a great fourth for Renault on the delicate tire, 1.8secs off the Ferrari.
Renault had a solid day, Magnussen overseeing more than 150 laps in spite of several on-track stoppages, and the group said they were satisfied with the auto’s execution in this way.
At the flip side of the times, Indonesian tenderfoot Rio Haryanto has had a troublesome prolog to F1 with Manor.
He spun on his first day in the auto on Wednesday, without hitting anything, and did as such again on Thursday, this time colliding with the obstructions at Turn Four. He was unhurt.
McLaren endured a huge hit to end the first of just two pre-season tests this year as Fernando Alonso oversaw just three laps before the group found a water spill in the auto.
They attempted to attempt to get the two-time champion out again yet came up short on time and Alonso finished the day without a lap time.
The issues revived repulsive recollections of 2015 when both pre-season testing and the season itself were tormented by lack of quality and poor execution.
Honda is to present another determination motor, proposed to be a noteworthy change, for one week from now’s last test.
