Hamilton disappointed with Friday time loss

World Champion Lewis Hamilton completed only one flying lap in Valencia's second free practice session on Friday after a mistake on the exit of Turn 19 saw the McLaren slide wide before spinning and collecting the inside wall on the inside of the following corner, damaging one of what is a limited supply of front wings this weekend.

Having come off the back of his Hungarian Grand Prix victory to pick up third spot in the morning session, Hamilton's day came to an early end with a mistake in the afternoon. "I touched the wall but didn't even really feel the impact," he explained. "I only grazed the front wing but, unfortunately, it couldn't be repaired as we didn't have a spare one. Hopefully we can get a new one for tomorrow or else we'll have to make some changes - we don't have lots of these wings available."

Team-mate Heikki Kovalainen continued with a newer specification of wing although Hamilton continued to explain that the Mercedes-powered MP4-24 is making technical leaps and bounds. "I didn't feel too happy with the car this morning but the changes we made between the sessions were very positive," he said. "On my last lap, I was six tenths up and it was already looking quite good so I feel positive for Saturday.

"It's a shame we missed out on so much track time but I still think we'll be okay tomorrow - that time can always be regained." As a consequence of the happening, Hamilton is likely to be one of the first men out of the pit lane in order to make up lost time in third and final practice on Saturday morning.

Source: GP Update