Lewis Hamilton Admits 'It's A Shock' As Mercedes Top Bahrain Practice

Lewis Hamilton warned his Mercedes team not to "get ahead of ourselves" on Thursday after unexpectedly topping the times ahead of team-mate George Russell in practice for this weekend's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion, who will leave Mercedes for Ferrari next year, said he felt much happier with the team's new 2024 car, adding that there is more performance "to extract". "It's a shock, but we'll take it," he said. "It feels like a race car for once."

He acknowledged that although Mercedes had outpaced defending champion Max Verstappen's Red Bull in qualifying trim, the Dutchman's long run pace in race set-up was still much faster.

"Overall, I'm feeling much happier with the car than last year," he said.

"We've made some good improvements and it feels much more like a race car and it's a really good platform for us to build from

"We just need to keep our heads down and keep chasing."

Hamilton topped the times under the lights at the Bahrain International Circuit with a best lap in one minute and 30.374, two-tenths clear of team-mate George Russell with two-time champion Fernando Alonso third for Aston Martin.

Verstappen, who complained throughout a windy day, wound up sixth behind Carlos Sainz, whose Ferrari seat will be taken by Hamilton next year, and McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

It reflected his struggle for single lap pace, but he was consistent and fast on the long runs late in the day.

Three-time champion Verstappen was not fazed by finishing sixth on the opening day.

Verstappen 'not worried'

"It's not too bad and I'm not worried by the gap to P1," he said.

"It's close and some people have opened up their engines for top speed, which we didn't. But we focused on ourselves and have been