Is Ferrari’s F1 car suiting Lewis Hamilton better than Mercedes?

Lewis Hamilton says he is “really enjoying” driving Ferrari’s 2025 F1 car but stressed it is “a bit early” to say whether it suits him better than his last Mercedes.

The seven-time world champion is getting up to speed with his new Ferrari team after completing a blockbuster winter transfer from rivals Mercedes ahead of the 2025 season.

Hamilton set the pace on the morning of the second day of pre-season testing in Bahrain but ended up being pipped to the fastest overall time by Williams’ Carlos Sainz.

The 40-year-old Briton said his first month as a Ferrari driver “couldn’t have gone any better” as he gears up for his first campaign with F1’s most iconic team.

"How you start is often very important," Hamilton said. "This past month couldn't have gone any different and couldn't have gone any better. Things along the way had to happen, Barcelona had to happen.

"Every day has been significant and about building foundation. Whilst I mentioned we had to cram a lot in a small space of time, we haven't rushed it.

"Long days, but that's what we're here for. I think it will pay dividends going forwards. This will continuously be evolving and it's felt seamless, felt easy in a sense of gelling with the team. I've not had to force it and I feel at home.”

Hamilton arrives at Ferrari off the back of some difficult final years with Mercedes in which he struggled to get to grips with the Silver Arrows' past few ground-effect cars and only won two grands prix.

Asked if he feels Ferrari’s SF-25 suits him better than his recent Mercedes challengers, Hamilton replied: “I think it's a bit early to say but I am really enjoying the car. We are slowly bonding I think.

"Yesterday was a so-so day, it was just OK. But we got through all our run plans, we are testing a bunch of things. I'm not doing set-up changes or directing where we want the car to go, whereas today was exploring a bit my interaction with my engineer.

"So far, I really enjoy driving this car.”

Lewis Hamilton still ‘exploring’ Ferrari’s F1 car

As part of Hamilton’s acclimatisation to Ferrari, he has had to get used to new working practices, a brand new steering wheel, pedals, and Ferrari’s power unit - having spent his entire 18-year F1 career driving Mercedes engines.

Hamilton, who has made several critical changes to his steering wheel, said there is "still room to explore” with his new Ferrari car.

"These days are about exploring. At the moment, there's still room to explore more and bit by bit I'm eking out a bit more,” he added.

"All the settings are so different, even brake bias is different. I'm not necessarily unlearning what I had before but am learning this new way of working and the way this car has to be driven is different and that's a fun journey.

"I feel like the car is underneath me and responding to my inputs. There's still more work to do but timings are not massively relevant, you just have to focus on your programme.

"We will have a bit of a base feeling tomorrow but I think it will be very close. Everyone has done a great job over the winter, even the Williams looks good."