Lewis Hamilton hailed Mercedes’ first pre-season test ahead of the new season as “pretty special” after the team sent the lap counter into a frenzy in Jerez this week.
On a day when Hamilton’s private life was again brought into focus, the 30-year-old brushed his latest break-up with celebrity girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger aside by pounding out the miles.
A spin when the circuit was damp after having just fitted slick tyres was the only blot on Hamilton’s copybook, but the reigning champion still racked up 117 laps and 208 overall for his two days behind the wheel of the W06-Hybrid.
Throw in team-mate Nico Rosberg’s 308 laps and Mercedes have amassed 516 overall for a grand total of 2,285 kilometres (1,419 miles), the equivalent of travelling from London to Kiev in the Ukraine.
To put that into further context, the number of laps is one more than the combined total for two of their biggest rivals in Ferrari (349) and Red Bull (166).
Hamilton said: “Paddy (Lowe, technical executive director) just said it has been the highest week of mileage. That’s a surprise for us all.
“We’ve put some decent mileage on the car this week and although you always want more, the reliability has been pretty special.”
On the final day in Jerez, Hamilton was third quickest behind Kimi Raikkonen in his Ferrari and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson.
Raikkonen’s lap of one minute 20.841secs was the quickest this week, with the Finn also racking up the laps with 106 in total, narrowly behind Ericsson and Hamilton, who both managed 112.
Concluding a positive test for Ferrari, who finished out in front on three of the four days, Raikkonen said: “The times don’t mean much. The lap time can be anything, but we’ve a good amount of laps and things are working, we’re not really having many issues, just a few small things. That's the main thing, so the feeling is pretty fine which is good.”
Toro Rosso’s rookie 17-year-old Max Verstappen managed a positive 97 laps as he continues to build ahead of becoming the youngest driver to take part in a Grand Prix on March 15 in Australia.
Romain Grosjean was beaming after his first outing for Lotus, now powered by a Mercedes system after the team ditched Renault at the end last year, describing himself as “a happy driver again”.
