Hamilton was surprised by the performance of the Mercedes W15 ahead of the Bahrain GP

Jakarta - Mercedes racer Lewis Hamilton said he was surprised by the increase in performance in the W15 car he drove in two free practice sessions ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Thursday (29/2).

Hamilton finished as the racer with the fastest lap time of 1 minute 30.374 seconds in the second free practice session held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.

He was also two tenths of a second ahead of teammate George Russell and half a second ahead of defending champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) who finished in sixth place.

“It was surprising to see where we were (during the second free practice). We'll accept it for now, but we can't rush it. "We have to remain calm and focus on setting it (the car)," said Hamilton, quoted from the official Formula 1 website, Friday.

The 39 year old racer said that there was still some work that the team had to do so that the car's performance could be maximized, especially in the qualifying session and the main race of the Bahrain GP later.

On the other hand, Hamilton admitted that he felt "much happier" compared to when he was driving his car last year.

“There are areas that have been improved and improved. It feels like a proper race car considering the last two cars didn't feel that way. "This is a really good platform for us to work on, and then we have to stay calm and keep chasing," he said.

With the all-new settings in the W15 and his performance in the second free practice session, Hamilton hopes that Mercedes can compete for the podium at the Bahrain GP.

“I think we will be involved (in the race for the podium). Maybe it's still early, but I think we are quite competitive along with Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren. So it's going to be a close fight," Hamilton said.

"If Max (Verstappen) was in the front row, he would probably do something like what he has done for the last few years," added the seven-time world champion.

Meanwhile, before undergoing the qualifying session, the racers will carry out the third free practice which will be held today at 19.30 WIB, while the qualifying racing session starts at 23.00 WIB.