Lewis Hamilton reveals three kilo weight loss in "roasting" Hungarian practice

Hamilton, Hungary, Mercedes — Photo: © LAT Images

Hungarian Grand Prix

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Hamilton reveals three kilo weight loss in "roasting" Hungarian practice

Hamilton was second to team-mate Bottas in FP2

Sam Hall

Friday 30 July 2021 17:10

Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton believes he lost three kilos in body weight due to the "roasting" 33-degree heat during Friday practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton finished the second session at the Hungaroring 0.027secs behind Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, with championship leader in Max Verstappen three-tenths of a second adrift as he complained of an "understeery" Red Bull.

In sweltering conditions, with track temperatures also hitting 62 degrees, Hamilton said: “[It was] roasting today. I’ve lost a lot of weight.

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"I think I’ve probably lost three kilos today between the sessions so a good amount of weight loss.

“We’re just melting the tyres out there so it’s quite hard to get the balance. It’s quite different to the last race we were at. A lot of people, I think everyone, has been struggling with the front tyres.

“They’re a different beast this year and it’s different at each race you go to so that’s been an interesting process trying to understand those better.”

Hamilton confident Mercedes can improve on pace

Mercedes has struggled with high levels of tyre wear in the heat this season but Hamilton suggested this was a problem not specific to the team.

“Considering it doesn’t really feel great out there in terms of the grip is poor, there is a lot of sliding around because we are just overheating already when we leave the pit lane," he explained. "But everyone is in the same boat there.

“But to see Valtteri and I both on the front row pace-wise, I think is great for the team and we’ll only improve on that."

Rain is forecast for the weekend, notably for Saturday's qualifying, although Hamilton has insisted that is not something the team can prepare for on this occasion.

“You can’t plan for the rain on a hot day like this," added Hamilton.

"You can’t set the car up soft for the rain because it’s quite unpredictable, so you just try to get the car in the best place you can and try to understand the tyres as much as you can.

“There’s not a huge difference between the setups anyway so we’ll set the car up as much as we can for a dry qualifying and if it rains then it rains.”