The sun is setting on the 2021 season, here in Abu Dhabi. There is an incredible fight going on for the title, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen on the tie on points and readier than ever to try the new track layout. The first section has been won by the Dutchman while the second one has been dominated by the Briton. It’s a tie again. Mercedes drivers preferred to focus on improvement, to better know the car and use the data for the rest of the weekend and learn quickly how to be fast on the new layout.

Lewis Hamilton talked immediately about that, defining the new Abu Dhabi as interesting. “It was okay. It’s been quite a decent day. I like the changes they have made to the track. They made the track much more enjoyable, much more flowing. We’ve been through a session, it’s stii a bit unknown in terms of pace but I’m sure it will still be super fast as it have been in the past races or so.”

Asked on his impression on the car, he said: “It doesn’t feel too bad. It started off good, it was worse in FP1, it started off better in the last session we’ve made, now we’re just going scroll through the data and try to figure out how to improve. The target is always moving.”

Bottas agreed with Hamilton on his considerations on the layout. “It was not bad, I mean the new layout feel nice, even better than before. The track has a bit more flow, some increased the speed and some sections improved a lot.”

“We changed the car a bit from FP1 and FP2 and it feels good even if I still feel a little bit raw with the car, - he continued - One of the laps was amazing so it was really a good session. We’ve had a decent long run with the tyres, it’s really consistent. It feels like on the very aggressive corner it’s stressing the rear tyres more. Still have practice tomorrow.”