Lewis Hamilton was the quickest man at the halfway point of 2025 Formula 1 testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.
His lap time of a 1:29.393 was four tenths faster than former teammate George Russell in the Mercedes, with Carlos Sainz rounding out the top three in the Williams.
Hamilton set his lap time late in the session when he made the switch to C3 tyres, after running a few tests for Ferrari’s front wing using small aero probes.
Rain would later hit the track and as it increased in intensity, it caused a lot of teams to sit in the garage as only Haas and Williams had brought wet tyres.
Ferrari has so far been disappointing during testing, with their fastest lap time set by Charles Leclerc yesterday who was fourth overall while Hamilton’s best time was only good enough for 13th quickest.
It has been the first time that Hamilton and Leclerc have run the SF-25 on representative tyres, after Ferrari did a shakedown of their car at Fiorano last week. With his quickest lap this morning, the 40-year-old managed to surpass a feat that Sainz achieved in 2024.
Lewis Hamilton beats quickest time set during 2024 F1 testing by Carlos Sainz
Ferrari have stacked up on the C3 tyre by bringing 21 sets to the test, having told tyre supplier Pirelli what they wanted weeks in advance.
Hamilton had already gone faster before achieving his quickest lap and managed to set a time that was quicker than the fastest lap set by Sainz last year, according journalist Chris Medland on BBC.
“Lewis Hamilton’s 1:29.670 is already faster than anything seen at testing last year, although that’s always to be expected with a year of car development,” wrote Medland.
“Watching trackside, it was clear he was pushing. He was one of a flurry of cars on quicker laps at similar times.”
Sainz’s best lap in 2024 was a 1:29.920 set on the C4 tyre, which he managed to achieve in the Ferrari on the second day. Car development is the main caveat in Hamilton’s time compared to Sainz, but the seven-time world champion appeared at home in the Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton asked Ferrari to make ‘important change’ to 2025 car
Hamilton has wasted no time in getting settled in at Ferrari having participated in several testing of previous cars outings so far, and embedded himself within the team.
Former Ferrari F1 driver Jean Alesi said Hamilton has ‘impressed everybody’ so far at Ferrari, having displayed his impressive work ethic.
READ MORE: Seven best drives of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes career before Ferrari move
Haas driver Oliver Bearman says Hamilton was key to making an adjustment to Ferrari’s steering wheel, with the American outfit sharing resources with the Maranello squad.
Hamilton asked Ferrari to change the steering wheel paddles to a design that is closer to what he had at Mercedes, with the seven-time world champion also spotted doing the same start procedure where he keeps one hand rested over the top of the wheel.
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