All eyes were on Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari as the seven-time world champion rolled out for the very first session of this year’s pre-season test. The Briton completed a total of 70 laps in the SF-25 before handing it over to his teammate, Charles Leclerc, for the afternoon session.
Early impressions of his stint with the 2025 car seemed problematic for some experts. The Race reported that “It’s not looking easy for Hamilton,” as the #44 driver seemingly struggled with a lack of front-end bite from the car.
That said, Hamilton gave his own thoughts after jumping out of the car.
️ @SMitchellF1: ‘It’s not looking easy for Hamilton to get the front in here. Some laps are better than others but the entries that seen more attacking are ending with a missed apex – he’s just backed off after a particularly wide run through.’ pic.twitter.com/mb4Ij9TgDU
— The Race (@wearetherace) February 26, 2025
“Our focus right now is on experimenting with different things, gathering as much data as possible and getting familiar with the car, and we’ve already learned a lot,” he said as quoted on X (formerly Twitter).
And with respect to the competitiveness of the SF-25 package, Hamilton thought it best to not deliberate on it as things stood. “It’s too early to really understand performance,” added the 40-year-old.
Things could get trickier for Hamilton on Day 2 of F1 pre-season testing
2025 could turn out to be a season of drama and rare moments. And it has already served up a curveball for F1 teams at the Sakhir International Circuit. With Day 2 of testing scheduled to run tomorrow, there is a 40% chance of rain in the desert.
If it does indeed rain, things could start to look a bit bleak for Hamilton and Ferrari. They haven’t taken any intermediate or wet tires from Pirelli for the test and a rain shower could mean they lose crucial track time.
| BREAKING: Pirelli announce the tyre allocations teams have selected for Bahrain testing.
Curiously, Aston Martin and Haas are bringing some wet tyres. pic.twitter.com/M5E10hVjOa
— formularacers (@formularacers_) February 25, 2025
In fact, Aston Martin and Haas are the only teams that had considered such an occurrence. The Silverstone-based team has three sets of green-walled intermediate tires available for the tests, whilst the Kannapolis-based team has one set of wet-weather and one set of intermediate tires at their disposal.
From the outside, it might look like Hamilton’s Ferrari career has already started on a bad note. But the team’s Technical Director (Chassis) Loic Serra is confident that the Briton will turn up the heat in terms of performances.
Serra, who worked with Hamilton at Mercedes, said, “Lewis’ difficulties in recent times? They don’t worry me at all. He’s an extraordinary driver, always eager for new challenges, and I am certain that he will be just as fast at Ferrari as he was during his best years in F1.”
