The second race of the 2017 Formula One season is set to take place at the Chinese Grand Prix. But Shanghai forecast suggests that there could be more rain over the weekend after the practice session was cut short when rain and fog prevented drivers from making it out of the garage.
Also read: Sebastian Vettel still believes Mercedes are favourites despite Australian GP win
Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen had the fastest lap time at 1 minute, 50.491 seconds but both Ferrari and Mercedes drivers failed to set a lap time due to the weather conditions. The drivers were given the green light for less than 20 minutes before the rest of the session was suspended.
Hass driver Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean ended up spinning on turn 9 while Renault's Nico Hulkenberg ending up in the gravel after spinning on turn 3. Despite these conditions, the race is expected to go on but there is one driver in particular who is dreading these wet weather conditions despite being a master in these conditions.
Over the years, Lewis Hamilton had built a reputation as one of the best drivers in wet conditions but the Brit said in a recent interview that he is not looking forward to a wet track in Shanghai. Hamilton did not take part in the wet-weather tests during pre-season testing and said back then: "I decided with the team not to drive as I wouldn't have learned much."
Now, with Shanghai expecting heavy rain over the weekend and with Hamilton not getting any laps on the new and wider Pirelli tyres, he could be in for a real problem during qualifying and the race.
"I'm not looking forward to a wet track. Usually, I like driving in the wet but I'm a little apprehensive. I have to learn a lot in a short period because I have not driven on these tyres. It might be exactly the same as in the past but that's unlikely. It is a much bigger tyre," Daily Mail quoted Hamilton as saying.
"The car might need to be put in different places but I will still drive like I always do. It's a big risk that you damage the car. I've only got four engines and we have a shortage of parts but I relish the challenge. If anyone is able to do it, I can, so I'll figure it out."
Following Sebastian Vettel's win in the opening race of the season, Hamilton said that he has been losing sleep ever since. The Brit said he is still highly motivated to turn things around at the Chinese Grand Prix. He said that they won fair and square and now that Ferrari is back, it's going to make this season more exciting.
"The result in Australia doesn't change the motivation. We wanted to win, we wanted to be the ones at the front, and it makes you want to focus on all the weak spots more, and try to enhance them. I felt pretty good after the race, and I was then afterwards thinking that you lost the race and it feels more painful," Hamilton said.
"I couldn't sleep one night and all I could think of is to win the next race. So whilst some of it is negative, we turn it into positives and we move forward. Ferrari won it. They did the better job. It wasn't ours to lose, it was both of us to win and they did the job at the end of the day.
"They've won it fair and square and perhaps the thing that makes it exciting is that their car is strong in certain areas and our car is stronger in certain areas. And I think that's going to make the season exciting hopefully."
