Lewis Hamilton revealed his early thoughts about the new Ferrari SF-25 after day one of F1 pre-season testing ahead of his inaugural season at the Scuderia.
The seven-time world champion took to the track for the first time in red, as fans and pundits alike adapted to Hamilton driving for Ferrari.
First out in the morning for Ferrari, Hamilton conducted runs as he built up his speed and confidence before handing over to new teammate Charles Leclerc.
Despite a few wayward moments during the session, he clocked up a full race distance, managing 70 laps in the SF-25.
Speaking after his time in the car was complete, he said his focus was on “experimentation” rather than pushing for performance.
‘Experimentation’ key on day one for Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari
He confirmed his excitement and said he pushed hard to gather as much data as possible for the team ahead of the first F1 race of the season.
“Testing is always exciting,” Hamilton said. “It’s the first time you get to see what everyone has been developing and can start to get a feel for your own car and the year ahead.
“Being here with Scuderia Ferrari HP and in the SF-25 for the first time is an incredible feeling. Our focus right now is on experimenting with different things, gathering as much data as possible and getting familiar with the car, and we’ve already learned a lot.
“It’s too early to really understand performance, but everything feels good and as a team we’re working on the best way to optimise each run.
“There’s more to do over the next few days to get through our programme and understand the car to the best of our ability, but right now I’m looking forward to getting out there again.”
Charles Leclerc praises day one of pre-season test
Teammate Charles Leclerc took to the track for the afternoon session, and like Hamilton did not encounter any issues with the SF-25.
He echoed Hamilton’s comments regarding performance, stating it was still too early to gauge any meaningful understanding of pace.
“It’s always a positive to have a smooth session without anything unexpected happening in terms of your run plan, although of course, it’s still too early to come to any conclusions about our performance,” he said.
Feature Image Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Media
