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In a week where all eyes were on Lewis Hamilton’s first public outings in the Ferrari cockpit, it was away from the racetrack where he made his biggest waves.
Acting as creative director for his own TIME photoshoot and interview, in which he posed next to a stallion named Aroma, the seven-time F1 world champion caused a stir with his punchy comments directed at “older, white men”.
“I’ve always welcomed the negativity,” he said, in the interview. “I never, ever reply to any of the older, ultimately, white men who have commented on my career and what they think I should be doing. How you show up, how you present yourself, how you perform slowly dispels that.”
It was directed at the likes of Bernie Ecclestone and Eddie Jordan, who had cast doubt over Hamilton’s chances of success ahead of his highly anticipated first season at the fabled Italian giants.
But the official three-day pre-season test this week in Bahrain gave us a first indication of what the state of play is on the racetrack ahead of the 2025 season opener in Australia in a fortnight’s time. And it isn’t all sunshine and roses in scarlet red.
McLaren are No 1 – are they on a ‘different planet?’
The papaya picked up where they left off after their constructors’ triumph last year, ending a 26-year hoodoo.
Lando Norris was quickest overall on day one but, more importantly, their race simulation runs on Thursday and Friday were superior to the rest of the chasing pack, at least from the figures available.
Norris’s race-run on Thursday was quicker than Liam Lawson, Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc, with an average time of half-a-second quicker per lap to Mercedes rookie Antonelli.
For Oscar Piastri, up against just George Russell, it was four-tenths of a lap on Friday.
Neither driver was in the top three by the end of Friday. But no points are won over one lap and the MCL39 – which has been drastically changed from last year’s title-winning car – appears to have made major improvements.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said on Wednesday that McLaren were “on a different planet” to the rest, while Russell noted that Norris was looking “pretty confident”.
Of course, there were the usual collection of testing variables at play: different run-plans, different fuel-loads. Maybe even a bit of sandbagging (disguising one’s true speed) from the rest.
The Albert Park street circuit in Melbourne is also a vastly different venue to the traditional Bahrain track. But McLaren went into this test as season favourites and there has been no evidence to suggest that label should be altered over the next two weeks.
So where are Ferrari?
At best, second. At worst, fourth. For me, third.
It’s very tight between the top-four teams, but even tighter still from second to fourth.
Hamilton did not perform a race-run in the final session on Friday; in fact, he did not appear at all in the final session, for an unspecified reason. However, he was second-quickest in a competitive field on Thursday, missing out to the man he replaced: Carlos Sainz at Williams.
For Ferrari chairman John Elkann who was a presence on-site in Bahrain, and who played such a major role in luring Hamilton from Mercedes, it was a steady if unspectacular start.
They’re definitely in the mix. But having missed out on the constructors’ title by 14 points last year, the Scuderia have certainly not leapfrogged McLaren over the winter.
Yet Hamilton was optimistic, saying: “This is the most positive feeling I’ve had in a long time. That’s all I can say now.”
What about Mercedes and Red Bull?
It was nip-and-tuck between George Russell and Max Verstappen in the closing minutes of testing under the lights on Friday, with the Mercedes man just pipping Red Bull’s No 1 by 0.021 seconds to take top spot.
A fight on track, this year perhaps, to match the pair’s animosity off it?
As for the full-time rookies in the other seat, 18-year-old Antonelli impressed the most. Consistently quick over one lap, his raw speed is already shining through. It is that pace Wolff is relying on, having turned down the chance to sign Sainz in favour of his prodigy.
Liam Lawson, much like all of Verstappen’s teammates in recent years, appears to have his work cut out.
Mercedes also completed 154 laps more than Red Bull, the best-to-worst ratio. That’s a whole load more of data to dissect and learn from in the next two weeks.
Best of the rest?
For me, Williams.
Opting to give their drivers a full day of testing on Thursday (Sainz) and Friday (Albon), both impressed in the two key areas of statistics: timings and laps.
Sainz completed 127 laps on Thursday and finished quickest – in fact, the quickest lap over all three days – while Albon was third-fastest, having set his own one-day tally of 136 laps.
Alpine followed close behind, with rookie Jack Doohan performing solidly and Pierre Gasly impressing throughout the final day. Ultimately, he finished fifth-fastest.
Yet the ‘dud’ team of testing were Aston Martin. Irregular time out on track, coupled with Lance Stroll’s illness on Friday, made for a three-day hiccup. It’s probably best they leave all that in the Middle-East, ahead of star designer Adrian Newey’s first day at the office on Monday.
And between Sauber, Haas and Racing Bulls, the latter look best placed in terms of speed. Haas, featuring British teen Ollie Bearman this year, did complete the second-most laps overall though, at 457.
Stoppages aplenty
Can the FIA please sort themselves out?
The sport’s governing body, whose new swearing rules have been the main topic of conversation over the off-season, endured a final day to forget in terms of, well, simply organising safe conditions to drive a race car.
The morning’s session was curtailed after broken glass appeared on the start-finish, straight from the starter’s box hovering over the circuit, while even more bizarrely a random bus appeared on track during the afternoon session, triggering another red flag.
Pressure always seems laser focused at FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Let’s hope he can iron out the issues within his organisation over the next 14 days, while all 10 teams pore over the data collected over the last three days.
The first race of the 2025 F1 season is in Australia on 16 March.
