Lewis Hamilton “felt much better in the car today than I have for a while”

Having won eight of the first 12 races before the summer break Hamilton has cemented himself as the championship leader and seemingly on course for a sixth World Championship title.
 
But the competition at the front has been the closest so far this season after Red Bull’s emergence of form from Austria and Ferrari proving they can win in Spa and Monza.
 
The Brit feels like he’s back on track now thought around Singapore after getting used to the conditions, completing the set-out plan for the day.
 
"It's always a shock to the system when you first get in the car here in Singapore because it's very bumpy, it's a long lap and it's so hot out there - it's like a sauna in the car,” Hamilton said.
 
“But it's been a solid first day, we got through our run plan and continued to improve the car, so I'm really happy with it.
 
“I felt much better in the car today than I have for a while, so I hope I can keep that feeling over the weekend.
 
“They re-did a few bits of tarmac on the circuit and I managed to get the tyres working well.
 
“If you can get into a groove and into a rhythm here, it's such a beautiful lap, so I've really been enjoying it.”
 
Despite topping the times in FP2 Hamilton still feels there are areas of improvement, especially with the challenge from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen not too far behind.
 
“But nothing's ever perfect and we definitely have some areas that we can still improve on,” he added.
 
“We've got off to a good start, but the Red Bulls looked very quick and we still have to put it all together tomorrow, which is not going to be easy."