Inside Hamilton’s pre-season testing

And that’s that – Lewis Hamilton has had all the testing he’s going to get with his new Ferrari team before he heads down under for the season opening Australian Grand Prix.

While he would have loved to have had more time with the team (it’ll be just 56 days between him starting work with the Prancing Horse and seeing the lights go out in Melbourne's Albert Park) – all things considered, he’s feeling pretty damn good.

“I would say this is the most positive feeling that I’ve had in a long time,” he said when chatting to the media on Friday.

Across the three days (which was only 1.5 really as he – like everyone – had to share his car with his team mate), he had clocked up 162 laps – which is the equivalent of just shy of three Bahrain Grand Prix distances.

BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - FEBRUARY 28: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Scuderia Ferrari — Hamilton built his relationship with the SF-25 across three days in Bahrain

Hamilton at 2025 pre-season testing in Bahrain

Day one: 70 laps, best time of 1:31.834s – 1.404s off the pace
Day two: 45 laps, best time of 1:29.431s – 0.031s off the pace
Day three: 47 laps, best time of 1:30.345s – 0.8s off the pace

Hamilton's first day was, by his own assessment “just OK” as he and the team were working through a run plan, “testing a bunch of things” and “just going through the motions”.

On day two, he started to turn things up a notch, playing around with set-up changes and directing where he wanted the car to go. “It was a bit more of getting to explore my interaction with my engineer [Riccardo Adami]”, he said of that running.

“I really enjoy driving this car. We’re slowly bonding, I think. It’s on plan – we couldn’t be further ahead with the short space of time that we’ve had.”

On the third and final day, when he got behind the wheel in the afternoon, he kicked off with a series of push laps that culminated in a low-fuel run – and while the time was only good enough for third, it was a very clean and tidy lap where the seven-time World Champion looked in complete control.

Then attention turned to his first proper long-run, where he could get a feel for the tyres when it’s pumped full of fuel. That wasn’t as impressive, as the data plot graph below shows, and it was cut short when the team found an anomaly on the telemetry.

“It’s hard to believe it’s the last day of testing,” he said during Friday’s press conference, before he got in the car for his final run. “It’s kind of crazy – it’s so short for everyone but it’s a vital few days that you get in the car.

“We’re just focusing on doing the best job we can with what we have and understanding the package we have. And for me, I’m learning more and more how the team likes to work – and making small tweaks here and there to improve my efficiency and the efficiency of how we work together. So, it’s been positive.”

'It looks very, very close'

It looks too close to call at the sharp end, with McLaren and Ferrari very evenly matched - both in short and long runs.

“[McLaren] look really quick, really competitive,” added Hamilton. “It looks very, very close. We won't know till next week truly exactly where we stand, but we know that we've got work to do.”

Just being in the fight with such limited preparation – he has had a couple of runs in a 2023-spec car, a run in the 2024-spec car that was modified for Pirelli tyre testing, a brief shakedown in the 2025 car and then this Bahrain test – will be music to Hamilton’s ears.

Lewis Hamilton's first reflections of his Ferrari testing debut

He's spent the last three years at Mercedes mostly on the sidelines when it came to fighting for wins – and that’s naturally led to a dent in his love for the sport and ability to extract the maximum from himself.

So, for him to be so enthused with the Ferrari project and to have adjusted so seamlessly to his new team – having thrown himself into an immersion programme that has seen him work 12-hour days minimum pretty much every time he’s at Maranello – is impressive.

INSIGHT: Hamilton's meticulous preparation as he gets to grips with his new Ferrari life

“I still feel that there's still quite a bit to come,” said Hamilton in terms of his learnings of his new surroundings.

“Fortunately, I got to drive the 2023 car. So, I've really been able to compare to the 2024 and the 2023 car and see where they've progressed, the problems they had on those two cars and how they've improved into this one.

F1 pre-season testing 2025: Day 3 Highlights

“Obviously I didn't get to do the test at the end of the year. So, a lot has been crammed in [during] that time. But I personally like to just jump in the deep end and figure it out.

“That's what we're doing, but of course we're going through the processes, and I feel like in this period of time we've built a really good foundation.”

If he’s looking super comfortable and quick with so little running under his belt – and already has plenty of ideas of where he and the team can improve based on what he’s tested, imagine what might be possible when he fully gets up to speed.