Formula 1 Bahrain Pre-Season Testing
Hamilton "slowly bonding" with new Ferrari F1 car
Lewis Hamilton has opened up on his first days gelling with Ferrari and its 2025 F1 car
Ben Hunt
Edited: Feb 27, 2025, 10:00 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Lewis Hamilton reckons he is “slowly bonding” with his Ferrari after notching up a total of 115 laps in his new challenger for 2025.
Hamilton switched to the Italian team in the winter and had made no secret of the struggles he had with his Mercedes from last season.
The seven-time F1 world champion was taking part in pre-season testing in Bahrain, where he says he is getting to grips with the SF-25.
He said: “It’s a bit early to say but I’m really enjoying the car. We’re slowly bonding.
“Yesterday was a so-so day. It was OK. But yesterday we got through all of our run plan.
“We’re testing a bunch of things. So I’m not doing set-up changes or directing where I want the car to go. We’re just going through the motions.
“Today was a bit more of getting to explore a bit of my interaction with my engineer. So far I really enjoy driving this car.”
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari SF-25
Photo by: Ferrari
Hamilton spent 12 seasons with Mercedes and says it is taking him time to adjust to driving a Ferrari F1 car for the first time in his career and as a result is working through different set-up options.
He added: “At the moment, there's still room to explore more, and I'm just, bit by bit, eking out a little bit more each time.
“All the settings are so different. So even just brake bias and all those sorts of things, it's much different to what I had in the previous place.
“It’s not necessarily unlearning what I did before, but kind of relearning this new way of working and where the car likes to be driven.
“It likes to be driven differently. And that's a really fun journey learning that. But at the moment, it feels that we definitely feel the car underneath me.
“I feel that the car is responding to my inputs. Today was a positive day, and making those incremental steps with the set-up. There's still more work to do.”
Hamilton looks reinvigorated and buoyed by his switch, saying his arrival at Ferrari could not have gone any better.
He was watched in Bahrain by Ferrari chairman, John Elkann, who made a rare appearance at testing.
Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari, John Elkann, Ferrari Chairman and CEO
Photo by: Clive Rose / Motorsport Images
Hamilton said: “How you start often is very important. This past month couldn't have gone any different, and it couldn't have gone any better.
“The days that we've had – just every day has been significant and really about just building foundation, and whilst we have to cram a lot in a small space of time, we haven't rushed it.
“We still have taken the time but we have just been working flat out in the days, long, long, long days, but that's what we're here for, right?
Read Also:
“I really do think it will pay dividends moving forwards, the work that has gone on, the focus, the communication, the changes that we've made, but there will be more also over the six to eight months.
“This is going to be continuously evolving, but it felt seamless. It's felt easy in a sense of gelling with the team. We have not had to force it. It's done it in its own time, and I feel at home.”
Photos from the Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2
Formula 1
82
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article As Trump attacks diversity, Hamilton vows to “just keep fighting”
Next article Vowles: F1 not a "hero-evil" environment, but no place for booing
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Ben Hunt
How Jonathan Wheatley wants Sauber to use F1 podium momentum in Audi transformation
Formula 1
Formula 1
British GP
Jul 13, 2025
How Jonathan Wheatley wants Sauber to use F1 podium momentum in Audi transformation
How Christian Horner’s Red Bull exit mirrored his F1 arrival and why he will be missed
Formula 1
Formula 1 Jul 10, 2025
How Christian Horner’s Red Bull exit mirrored his F1 arrival and why he will be missed
Keanu Reeves to star in new Cadillac F1 team documentary
Formula 1
Formula 1
Austrian GP
Jul 2, 2025
Keanu Reeves to star in new Cadillac F1 team documentary
More from
Lewis Hamilton
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Formula 1
Formula 1 6 h
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 d
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
More from
Ferrari
What the Brazilian GP revealed about F1's ability to cope with rain
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
2 d
What the Brazilian GP revealed about F1's ability to cope with rain
F1 2026 calendar update: Imola GP off the table, no plan B if war escalates
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
3 d
F1 2026 calendar update: Imola GP off the table, no plan B if war escalates
Latest news
Why aerodynamics will become "even more important" under 2027 MotoGP regulations
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
29 min
Why aerodynamics will become "even more important" under 2027 MotoGP regulations
Sebastien Bourdais hopes latest WEC success will remind teams of his value
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
2 h
Sebastien Bourdais hopes latest WEC success will remind teams of his value
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
3 h
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe