Mercedes AMG Petronas
Lewis Hamilton labelled the Mercedes W05 Hybrid the best car he's driven around the Yas Marina Circuit after he topped both practice sessions ahead of this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hamilton finished the second practice session 0.083s ahead of Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg and needs just a second place finish to secure the championship.
"It's been a good Friday," he said. "We've run the same programme as we run every race weekend but this time we had the whole of both sessions to work with the tyres, look at long runs, analyse setup and the countless other things you need to assess in practice which was great.
"We made good steps forward with the setup but, as always, there is still more time to be found. We'll keep chipping away at it and look to improve in every area possible but the car feels great - the best I've ever driven here without doubt.
"The team have done an amazing job. Coming into the weekend I was already excited and couldn't wait to get out on track. When you know you have a package as competitive as ours it's like being a kid at Christmas. I don't feel any particular pressure this weekend. I'll just drive the way I always drive and what will be, will be. So far it's all moving in the right direction so I just have to keep working away at it."
Rosberg played down his marginal deficit to Hamilton.
"It's been a good day today but I really haven't got my best lap together yet, so there is still a lot of work to do over the rest of the weekend," he said.
"In general the car felt great out there today. I just need to fine-tune it so that the set-up is exactly to my liking, then go for it and get the job done."
