Lewis Hamilton has put the blame on Moto GP for having cost the Barcelona circuit it’s characteristic ‘character’ after the resurfacing that took place during the winter.
Hamilton feels that the resurfacing was a waste of money, as the challenge of F1’s testing was neutralised by the smooth surface.
“This track has been resurfaced and there are no bumps. I’m not quite sure why they did a resurface as I think it is a waste of money,” Hamilton said.
“The older the surface the more character there is in a circuit. They’ve smoothed a lot of it out so it has lost a lot of its great character like a track like Barcelona has.
“They’ve done it at many circuits and I guess it has something to do with MotoGP, so we have that fight. I love MotoGP but they hate us because we make it bumpy and we hate them because they keep getting us to have these big run-off areas.
“The track is quicker than it was in the past, much, much quicker, with a lot more grip so it is difficult to say if the car is that much better or if it is because how much of it is the track or the tyres or the grip.” he added.
While the first testing of the season couldn’t be carried out in the best possible way, as weather was a huge issue, but with warm and dry weather predicted for the 2nd testing, which is scheduled from 6th-9th March, Hamilton feels that he’ll get a better feel of the car and the track.
“Next week we will hopefully get a better understanding,” he said.
“I’ve only done 50 or 60 laps today [Friday] so it wasn’t the best of readings but it was positive.
“I had no mistakes and got to it quite quickly. It definitely does feel like a better car compared to last year’s car so that is a positive.” he concluded.
