Lewis Hamilton has made it clear that he is not a fan of pre-season testing and would rather straight away get into competitive action. However, with him moving to Ferrari this season, the Briton understands that he needs to put in as many laps as possible to get more comfortable with the car.
While Hamilton got plenty of running on the first two days, registering a total of 115 laps, he clocked in only 47 laps on day three and ended his testing with 20 minutes still left on the clock. So, did Hamilton end his pre-season testing prematurely simply because of his dislike for it or was there a problem that Ferrari faced?
Well, it is clear that Hamilton was eager to get some more laps in as F1 journalist Chris Medland reported that the 40-year-old wanted to do a race simulation. But as he wasn’t able to do so, Ferrari might feel a bit dissatisfied about missing out on a proper long run for Hamilton in the evening conditions in Bahrain.
Moreover, the Italian team hasn’t updated as to why they had to end Hamilton’s final session earlier than expected. This led F1 expert Karun Chandhok to speculate that they could’ve encountered some issue on the SF-25.
“I think Ferrari have had some sort of a problem because he’s not run for the last little while,” the Indian former driver said per Sky Sports. “He did a five-lap run and then he’s not been seen on track for the last hour or so”.
#F1 | Lewis Hamilton on the Ferrari pre-season testing:
“I would say this is the most positive feeling that I’ve had in a long time. That’s all I can really say for now.” pic.twitter.com/WsRShRUwgF
— deni (@fiagirly) February 28, 2025
Hamilton hadn’t driven during the afternoon session of testing on either of the first two days. So, this was the first time when the Briton was getting a taste of the car in the cooler temperatures of the evening in Sakhir — the relevant conditions in which the Bahrain GP takes place.
While Chandhok was also unaware of the specifics of Ferrari‘s issue, he added how it was “sub-optimal” for Hamilton and Ferrari to have their running cut short toward the business end of the pre-season test.
However, fellow F1 commentator David Croft believes Ferrari have nothing much to worry about and are likely to be one of the two most satisfied teams after pre-season testing.
Croft claims Hamilton has integrated well with Ferrari
With Lando Norris lighting up the timing charts during pre-season testing, Croft — like many other experts — is of the opinion that McLaren are likely to be the “most satisfied”. However, looking at the way Hamilton has blended with Ferrari, he believes that the Italian outfit will be “the happiest”.
“He (Hamilton) is happy, the team are happy and the times have been good,” Croft further explained. “The long runs haven’t been bad either”. Similar to the Sky Sports commentator, F1 TV’s Alex Brundle also believes that Ferrari showcased some good long-run pace as they were just a tenth slower than McLaren.
While it is understandable why the Scuderia have not divulged anything about what they make of their pace so far, Charles Leclerc did suggest that their pre-season testing has been going well. “The feeling is pretty good. We didn’t have any bad surprises for now, so that is good, but it’s too early to judge performance,” he said after day one of testing.
Pre-season testing is not a good time to judge performance as teams often run different setups and fuel loads for their drivers depending on the data they seek. Moreover, with several teams likely to sandbag, the true pecking order will only come to light when the season officially begins in Australia, as the first race weekend is scheduled for March 14 to 16.
