Lewis Hamilton acknowledged that Ferrari has “work to do to improve” after a technical issue interrupted its direction on the last day of the Formula One pre-season test in Bahrain.
The seven -time world champion, which is preparing to start its first season with Ferrari who had joined 12 years in Mercedes, had enjoyed an encouraging start to try as he ended up on Thursday’s schedule.
However, his plans to develop a full racing simulation at the last session on Friday evening were lit after Ferrari said they “noticed an abnormality in Telemetri”.
Speaking Friday afternoon before his last opportunity to run the SF-25 before opening the Grand Prix Australian season from March 14-16, Hamilton said he was impressed by the Simulation of Lando Norris’s race for McLaren on Thursday.
“McLaren made a great run yesterday, and I think Max also did a good today, given the temperatures,” he said. “Hard hard to know what fuel loads that everyone is working, as we are all doing our different programs, so you have to get everything with a pinch of salt.
“McLaren won the constructors last year. We expect them to be one of the fastest, if not faster, like Red Bull, who dominated for many, many years.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Lewis Hamilton posted faster laps in Ferrari during a strong start on the second day of pre-season testing
“For us, we are just trying to improve. I haven’t even done a long deadline yet, so I’m ready to do it this afternoon, and I will understand a little better how this car behaves in a race.
“It’s going to be my first race racing with the team. I’ve just made short runs like 10 laps, so it will be interesting. We have definitely got some work to do to improve.”
Hamilton ended fifth on Friday, but frustrating was able to finish only 47 laps, compared to his 66 teammates Charles Leclerc managed at the morning session.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
George Russell could not resist shaking in his former Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton during the third day of testing
Making further comments on a press release from Ferrari after the final session, Hamilton added: “There have been some great days in general and we have made strong progress as a team.
“We had to end up a little earlier than it was planned today, and the weather has been difficult to predict throughout the week, but this is how testing sometimes works and we have managed to collect a lot of good information to build before the season begins.
“The whole team has done a tremendous job and I am very excited to reach the first race in Melbourne. I can’t wait to go to races with them.”
Vasseur: Maybe a different story in Melbourne
The consensus on the drive after three days of running was that the champions of the constructors of McLaren constructors remain teams to defeat.
Testing times are always seen carefully because of teams and drivers who develop different programs, but there has been additional uncertainty on this occasion due to the startling weather in Bahrain international circuit.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Craig Slater and Ted Kravitz give their predictions which team will be faster this season and who will be slower after testing in Bahrain
The temperatures were much colder than they are likely to be in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix, and also when the F1 returns to Bahrain for the fourth round of the season in April.
Ferrari team director Fred Vasseur said: “It has been difficult to read clearly in the general situation here in Bahrain as conditions were changing a lot from day to day and from morning to afternoon, so it was more similar to Las Vegas than with Bahrain we usually know.
“Over the past six months we have worked hard for this car and made a good improvement, but we will have to wait until we are all on the right track in Melbourne to understand where we are.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Lewis Hamilton says he is really enjoying Ferrari’s driving and jokingly thinks what an Italian version of ‘Hammer Time’ can be
“If we look at the hierarchy of previous years, what we saw here was not the same as qualifying a week later, under the same conditions. We will go from 10-15 degrees on the right track to 45 we will have in Australia, so in Melbourne it will be a completely different story.
“We want to fight for both championships because we know that we have two drivers who can do this and the mood on the team is very positive. We will continue to work hard to be ready in two weeks for the start of the season.”
When is the first F1 racing?
For the first time since 2019, the season space will be held in Melbourne in the Australian Grand Prix on March 14-16. The first race has passed from Bahrain to Australia because of Ramadan that is taking place throughout March.
There are 24 events in the 2025 F1 calendar, the same number as last year, with the season ending at Abu Dhabi’s Grand Prix on December 5-7.
Check out all the 24 weekends of the 2025 Formula 1 Live season at the Sky Sports F1, starting with the Australian GP on March 14-16. Stream Sky Sports with now – without contract, cancel at any time
