Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari onboard footage has been closely scrutinised during F1 testing. Opinions have differed from one day to the next.
On Thursday, Karun Chandhok said Hamilton looked comfortable in his Ferrari and able to manipulate the car. But fellow pundit Alex Brundle raised concerns in the final session.
In a reversal of the arrangement on days one and two, Charles Leclerc was first on track for a final taste of the SF-25 before the Australian Grand Prix. The Monegasque set the fastest time of the morning ahead of Hamilton’s Mercedes replacement Kimi Antonelli.
The consensus was that Hamilton never really felt confident in the W15 last year. The car occasionally came alive, allowing him to take an emotional victory at Silverstone and follow it up with another win in Belgium soon after.
But for the most part, he appeared to be wrestling with his Silver Arrow. Rear instability was perhaps the biggest scourge.
Ralf Schumacher says Hamilton ‘can’t cope’ when the back end of the car is unstable. If Ferrari want to revive the best version of the 40-year-old, they’ll need it to be planted.
Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari didn’t ‘look friendly’ during F1 testing, Alex Brundle says
Brundle has watched the Ferrari up close from trackside, and also viewed Hamilton’s onboards. He fears the SF-25 particularly susceptible to a tailwind.
It’s possible that Hamilton’s engineers have simply gone the wrong way with set-up, and can quickly correct the issues. But there was also a change in track conditions, with temperatures in Bahrain returning to customary levels.
One of the most commonly repeated phrases with regard to car performance is ‘working window’. The team with the most versatile car will likely be the team that wins the title.
Hamilton is taking inspiration from Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso as he tries to acclimatise. Neither driver won a title at Ferrari, but they did bag early race wins.
“That Ferrari looks really difficult to drive this afternoon,” Brundle said. “I was watching it a little earlier on.
“Exit of turn four, entry of turn 11. Way wide through the mid-corner of turn 13 as well. Anywhere where it’s got its tail to the wind, Hamilton’s really struggling to get into the apex.
“It doesn’t look happy. It looks really, really nasty after whatever they’ve done to that Ferrari.
“You take avenues, they don’t always work. But that doesn’t look friendly. The thing just looked horrid.”
Netflix raced to get their microphones when they spotted Lewis Hamilton doing one thing
‘Everyone is talking about’ Ferrari’s sidepods, technical expert Sam Collins says. Team principal Fred Vasseur previously revealed that the car would be 99% different to its predecessor.
That was an eye-catching statement given that there are no major changes to the regulations. Ferrari already built a contending car last year, finishing just 14 points behind McLaren.
Carlos Sainz and Leclerc combined for five race wins and a grid-high 22 podiums. The Spaniard will hope to prove this year that his old team made a mistake.
Hamilton was seen in conversation with Sainz in the F1 paddock on Friday morning. Predictably given the narrative around the two, Netflix made sure they ‘got a mic in there’.
