The last day of pre-season testing in Bahrain ended unexpectedly for Lewis Hamilton and Scuderia Ferrari. While the seven-time world champion was supposed to complete his first full race simulation under the Scuderia’s colors, the Italian team decided to prematurely interrupt his session after detecting an anomaly in the telemetry data.
A shortened but productive day
This final day of testing was supposed to allow Hamilton to complete a crucial simulation session for his preparation before the season starts. The Briton completed 47 laps on the Sakhir circuit, totaling 254 kilometers, before the team decided to end his day as a precaution. His best time was 1:30.345 on C4 tires, placing him in sixth position on the day’s ranking.
Despite this setback, Hamilton remained positive about the progress made with his new team: “Overall, the past few days have been very positive and we have made good progress as a team. We had to finish a little earlier than expected today, and the weather has been difficult to anticipate all week, but that’s how testing goes sometimes. Despite this, we have gathered valuable information to build on before the season begins,” he said.
Still work to be done
Before getting behind the wheel for the afternoon session, Hamilton shared his observations on the performance of competing teams during a press conference: « McLaren delivered a strong performance yesterday [Thursday], and I think Max also had a good run today, given the temperatures. It’s hard to know what fuel loads everyone is running, as we are all following different programs, so everything should be taken with a grain of salt. », he explained.
The Briton had been particularly eager to carry out his first race simulation with his new team: “I haven’t even done a long stint yet, so I’ll do that this afternoon and better understand the car’s behavior over a race stint. This will be my first race stint with the team. So far, I’ve only done short runs of about ten laps, so it will be interesting. There’s clearly work to be done to progress,” he had admitted before taking the wheel of the SF-25 in the afternoon.
Unfortunately, this much-anticipated race simulation could not be completed. With only about 90 minutes of the session remaining, the Ferrari team set up screens in their garage, indicating that significant work was being done on the car. The exact nature of the anomaly detected in the telemetry was not specified by the team.
A successful adaptation despite the challenges
Despite this setback, Hamilton’s early days at Ferrari seem to have been encouraging: « This past month couldn’t have gone better. Certain things had to happen, Barcelona had to happen. […] Long days, but that’s why we’re here. I think it will pay off in the future. The progression will be continuous and everything has happened smoothly, easily, in the sense that I have integrated well into the team. I didn’t have to force things and I feel at home. », he confided.
The British driver, who arrived in Maranello after twelve seasons with Mercedes, seems to have quickly found his footing. A radical change of environment that doesn’t seem to have unsettled him, even as he leaves the team with which he built the majority of his track record.
His ease in the cockpit of the SF-25, noted by several observers during these tests, shows how well Hamilton has adapted. Indeed, the tests conducted with the old cars in Barcelona and Fiorano, as well as the numerous hours spent in the simulator, have undoubtedly helped him a lot.
Over the course of the three days of testing in Bahrain, the British champion completed 162 laps, equivalent to 876 kilometers or almost three Grand Prix distances. His teammate Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, completed 66 laps during the morning session on the last day, bringing the team’s total to 385 laps for the entire testing.
Heading to Melbourne
Despite this lukewarm end to testing, Hamilton seems eager to start his new adventure with Ferrari. “The whole team has done an incredible job, and I can’t wait for the first race in Melbourne. I’m excited to race with them,” he said.
The next appearance of the SF-25 on the track is scheduled for Friday, March 14, during the first free practice session of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Until then, the Italian team will have time to analyze the data collected in Bahrain and resolve the anomaly detected on the British driver’s car.