Hamilton surprised as Mercedes tops Bahrain practice; Eyes podium in the 2024 season opener (WATCH)

Lewis Hamilton expresses astonishment as Mercedes leads Bahrain Grand Prix practice, signalling optimism for the team's 2024 car.

Lewis Hamilton expressed his surprise as Mercedes took the lead in Bahrain Grand Prix practice, cautioning his team against overconfidence. The seven-time world champion, set to join Ferrari next year, expressed contentment with the performance of Mercedes' new 2024 car, emphasising the need to remain focused and build on the positive start.

Despite outpacing Red Bull in qualifying, Hamilton acknowledged Max Verstappen's superior long-run pace. While optimistic about Mercedes' podium prospects, he anticipated Verstappen's potential dominance in the upcoming race. Hamilton, winless since 2021, aimed to contribute significantly to Mercedes' title pursuit. Teammate George Russell emphasized the need to stay grounded despite promising qualifying results.

"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."

"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 trying to find the sweet spot in the set-up. When we get that, we won't be far away!"