Lewis Hamilton has pointed to several "obstacles" that Mercedes need to clear after this week's test in Barcelona, despite topping the overall timesheets. Hamilton and Mercedes experienced mixed fortunes over the three days of running, with the seven-time World Champion failing to reach a race distance on his first two stints at the wheel amid several issues. A more productive final afternoon saw Hamilton record a day-topping 94 laps, having also set the pace with a time of 1:19.138 on the Soft (C5) tyre, but he admits the test was far from straightforward. "It's been an interesting few days; it's not been the easiest or smoothest running – we have some obstacles to overcome," said Hamilton. "We'd always want more laps but I'm happy with today's running. I got almost 100 laps in today, which for half a day's running, isn't too bad. "The car is a lot different to drive than in previous years, as are the tyres, but we're working our way through our programme."
Hamilton: We don't know where we are compared to other teams
Hamilton nonetheless praised the efforts of his team and says it is far too early to start thinking about where Mercedes may slot into the pecking order. "The whole team have done an amazing job this week; the men and women back at the factory have worked so hard," he added. "We've got a lot of data to go through from these three days and we'll just put one foot in front of the other and put in the work. "It was good to get a feel for the different tyre compounds, but you never know where you are compared to the other teams on the first days of running." Hamilton was closely followed on the combined times by new teammate George Russell.
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