Lewis Hamilton has looked “energised” in his first laps with the Ferrari SF-25 despite a minor off in F1 2025 pre-season testing in Bahrain.

That is the claim of F1 analyst Alex Brundle, the son of Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle, who says the opening day of testing is effectively “the first time” Hamilton has been able to push the limits of his new Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton looking ‘energised’ in Ferrari SF-25 in Bahrain F1 testing

Hamilton is gearing up for his first season as a Ferrari driver, having arrived at the Italian team from Mercedes over the winter.

The seven-time World Champion has undergone an extensive period of testing over the last month, driving Ferrari’s 2023 car at the team’s Fiorano test track and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as well as driving the 2024 car in a Pirelli tyre test at the Spanish Grand Prix venue.

Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc were back at Fiorano last week for a shakedown of the new SF-25 car, with both drivers limited to a maximum of 100 kilometres of running.

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Brundle believes Hamilton’s outings at the narrow and bumpy Fiorano circuit were of little use to the 40-year-old, with testing marking the first time that he has been able to lean on the Ferrari.

And despite struggling with understeer – resulting in a brief wide moment at Turn 11, the medium-speed left hander towards the end of the final sector in Sakhir – Brundle feels Hamilton is looking refreshed on track.

Reporting from trackside during the live television coverage of testing, he said: “How great is it to see Lewis Hamilton pounding round in a Ferrari?

“He looks energised. He’s looked energised all the way through the off season.

“[He’s] been off already at Turn 11. He’s got a bit of a tailwind on his way in here and he’s routinely slightly wide of the apex at Turn 11.

“Looks nice and stable through the exit, just a little bit of understeer it looks like in that Ferrari at the moment for Hamilton. That’s what called him out a few laps ago, scampered over the outside kerb and carried on.

“Just getting a bit of a bit of a feel for the car, potentially a bit of wind behind it and a little bit wide for Hamilton could be a factor of the car moving “forward.

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“They’ve done so little running before the season starts. It’s [effectively] the first time [in Bahrain].

“A couple of 100ks round Fiorano is not going to give you a feel for it. It’s narrow, it’s bumpy and you just don’t get enough mileage.

“So it’s going to be really interesting to see that Ferrari progress. An entirely new front suspension setup for Hamilton and everything that goes with that will take all of his experience to get his head around this year.

“It’s going to be fascinating to see an entirely motivated and energised Lewis move that car forward through these three days and then into the beginning of this season. I really can’t wait.”

Hamilton is set to hand over the SF-25 to Leclerc for the evening session in Bahrain, with the team’s schedule for the remaining two days of the test unconfirmed at the time of writing.

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