Online Reporter
LEWIS HAMILTON hailed an “amazing” amount of mileage on a productive morning for Ferrari on day four of Formula One’s pre-season shakedown at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
Ferrari failed to win a race last year, dropping to fourth overall, and seven-time world champion Hamilton suffered his first season without a single podium appearance.
They are hoping to be far more competitive this year, the start of a new engine era with the biggest rules reset that any of the drivers have experienced, although Mercedes are already looking ominously reliable.
“When you come to the test you always want to get a lot of mileage,” said Hamilton in an interview with Formula One television on Thursday. “Like, today I did 85 laps in the morning which is amazing.
“Last year we had a worse start to testing. So this, considering it’s a completely new band of rules, it’s better than we’ve experienced in the past. So I’m really hopeful that continues.”
All teams must choose three of five days to run their new car in the behind-closed-doors test in Barcelona, with Ferrari opting for Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Thursday was Hamilton’s first proper dry day in the car after rain hit Tuesday’s session, when he and teammate Charles Leclerc were both in action.
Hamilton said he had got through his programme, before handing over to Leclerc, and had a “bit of an understanding of where the car is at and where we need to improve”.
The Briton is in his second year at Ferrari after joining from Mercedes at the end of 2024.
Formula One teams have two open tests in Bahrain next month before the season starts in Australia on March 8.
Meanwhile, Formula 1 drivers gave a cautiously positive reaction to this year’s new cars at the end of the first day of pre-season testing in Spain on Monday.
Mercedes driver George Russell said: “The cars looked really cool out on the circuit and that’s positive for our sport.
“They are quite different for us as drivers but, once you get your head around it, driving them is quite intuitive.
“It’s enjoyable being behind the wheel and there’s a lot for fans to look forward to with these new regulations.”
The Briton’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli described his car as “very nice to drive”, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson said “there is a lot more we can do as drivers to make a difference” and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto said the new engines felt “very cool”.
The drivers were speaking in pool interviews provided by rights holder F1 and governing body the FIA, or in team statements.
Teams are holding a private test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, to which independent media have not been given access.
Secrecy was so intense that a number of journalists who were trying to observe the new cars from outside the circuit reported being moved on by security guards despite being on public land.
The decision was made to run the test in private as a result of the severe reliability problems a number of teams suffered when the engine rules were last changed in 2014.
This year, the cars are all new – with changes to the regulations governing chassis, engines, tyres and the mandating of carbon-neutral sustainable fuel.
The engines are the biggest change, with 50 percent of the power now provided by the electrical part of the hybrid engines, and energy management expected to be a major feature of the sport in 2026. – AFP Sport.
