Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari had been inevitably the focus on the primary morning of F1 testing in Bahrain. The seven-time world champion accomplished 70 laps of the Sakhir circuit, setting his greatest time at 1:31.834. Apparently, that put him four-tenths behind his successor at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Occasions and rankings within the first 4 hours of the brand new season imply little to nothing, however they do present the Scuderia bettering by a second and a half in comparison with the 1:33.247 lap recorded by Charles Leclerc in final yr’s morning session of the primary day of winter testing.
Hamilton’s work on the primary day of testing
No matter efficiency—since, as talked about, it doesn’t inform us a lot—and even contemplating that the improved occasions are partly as a result of considerably cooler monitor and ambient temperatures, it’s nonetheless attention-grabbing to investigate the work carried out by Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari on their F1 testing debut in Bahrain. The British champion adopted a reasonably normal program, initially specializing in brief runs of three or 4 laps earlier than transferring on to mini lengthy runs of round ten laps. Pending official statements, this isn’t an uncommon method for the primary day of testing, with mechanics and engineers seemingly prioritizing aerodynamic mapping of the SF-25, finding out its conduct below various journey heights and gas hundreds.
A lot of the work was executed on Medium C3 tires (marked by yellow Pirelli lettering however and not using a sideband), apart from Sir Lewis’s first run within the morning, which was on Exhausting C2 tires (recognized by white lettering and a sideband). His greatest time was set utilizing the fourth of seven new tire units—the third C3 compound—instantly on the primary timed lap. Hamilton then tried a second quick lap after a cooldown lap however aborted it and returned to the pits.
Τα stints που πραγματοποίησε ο Lewis Hamilton στο πρωινό σκέλος των δοκιμών. #F1GR
Lewis Hamilton’s stints from the morning session. #F1Testing #Day1 #AM @ScuderiaFerrari pic.twitter.com/SbRvfNXixV
— F1 Debrief (@f1debrief) February 26, 2025
Due to the always-precise information from the Twitter profile @F1Debrief, we are able to see that within the latter a part of the morning, Hamilton and Ferrari switched to working with increased gas hundreds and stints of 9 or ten laps. The 40-year-old used three new units of Pirelli C3s, finishing 10, 10, and 9 laps respectively at Sakhir, together with his greatest time of 1:36.278 approaching the fourth lap of the primary of those units.
It’s, after all, not possible to guage efficiency and the character of the work executed, however it’s plain that the Ferrari seen on the morning of day one in Bahrain appeared considerably nervous. This led to Hamilton experiencing a couple of lock-ups and a number of other corrections as a result of a reasonably “vigorous” rear finish on nook exits. However there may be nonetheless loads of time earlier than drawing any agency conclusions…
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