Hamilton dejected after wasted day
Hamilton said the rain caused a lot of disruption to McLaren's testing programme
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Friday, 12, Feb 2010 06:07
By Adam Leveridge
Lewis Hamilton seemed dejected after his first day behind the wheel of the MP4-25 in Jerez, after McLaren's testing programme was disrupted by rain.
After Jenson Button got 83 laps on the board on Thursday in dry weather conditions, Hamilton only had 15 laps of dry running on Friday morning before the heavens opened in the afternoon.
Rain lashed the southern Spanish circuit all day until play had to be abandoned in the closing minutes of the session, with drivers comparing the track to a river.
Hamilton said: "I'd prefer to be on the beach somewhere.
"It was a dry morning and it felt okay. The car doesn't feel too bad in the wet, but there was just too much water on the track.
"We didn't do much running, so there's not really too much to say."
With rain forecast for Saturday and for next week's test in Jerez, Hamilton said, while there are minor checks the team can do, it is unlikely he will be able to learn anything new about the MP4-25.
"Time on the track is always valuable, but in the wet it's not really worth it," said Hamilton.
"I would have loved to have had a dry day, of course, and I feel positive about my car, but we have less of an idea about where we are then we did in the past, as there's such a huge variation of fuel loads.
"Some people might be running ten kilos, 30 kilos, 100 kilos, it's impossible to say."
Hamilton and McLaren are hoping for dry conditions tomorrow, to allow them to make progress with their testing programme, although conditions are expected to mirror today's weather.