On the final day of F1 pre-season testing, Ferrari completed 113 laps in total around the Bahrain International Circuit, with Charles Leclerc getting behind the wheel of the SF-25 in the morning and Lewis Hamilton in the afternoon.
Barring a brief interruption caused by debris on track that brought out the red flag, the Italian marque ran a clean programme in the AM session, and the Monégasque driver topped the time sheets. He concluded his final session with 66 laps and set his best time of 1:30.811 on the C3 compound.
Later in the PM session, Lewis Hamilton took to the track and completed 47 laps around the circuit. His best lap time of 1:30.345—the sixth-fastest of the day—came from a set of C4 tyres.
As for the first two days of F1 testing, Ferrari didn’t experience any major hiccups, with Leclerc and Hamilton covering a combined distance of 1,460 kilometres. Although the not-so-ideal track conditions on Thursday made it difficult to maximise texting time and data collection, the general consensus, albeit optimistic, has been that it is too early to draw any conclusions.
How the final day of F1 testing went for the Ferrari drivers
Leclerc spent almost the entirety of the morning session on the C3 tyres. Although he ran a five-lap stint on the C4, he set his best time on the harder of the two compounds. With the wind picking up towards the end of the sessions, drivers found it increasingly difficult to extract the most out of the cars, and the lap times no longer improved.
Hamilton was one of the first to hit the track after the lunch break. Following a programme almost identical to the one his teammate ran yesterday, the British driver carried out both qualifying and race simulations. After setting his best time on the C4 compound, he completed his long runs on the C3 tyres. In the closing stages of the session, Ferrari, however, decided to bring Hamilton in and conclude the running early as a precaution, having spotted an anomaly on the telemetry.
Over the course of three-day F1 testing at Sakhir, Ferrari registered a total of 385 laps, equivalent to around seven Grand Prix distances, with Leclerc and Hamilton.
Leclerc’s thoughts after final day of testing
Speaking afterwards, Leclerc addressed the inconsistent weather conditions in Bahrain and remarked that the fluctuating temperatures have made it rather difficult to compare the data to that of previous years.
“Honestly, I don’t think I have ever experienced a Bahrain like this.
“It was very cold, there was rain, the temperatures are not the ones we are used to. So it becomes quite difficult to make comparisons with previous years. Usually we have much warmer temperatures.”
With regard to whether the SF-25 is meeting their expectations, the 27-year-old stated that the new single-seater is delivering the numbers they had anticipated. Nonetheless, he confessed that Ferrari have struggled in terms of finding the right balance and that they have further work to do.
“We are seeing all the numbers we were expecting to see. Today we struggled a bit more with balance; yesterday afternoon as well it was a little difficult to manage it.
“So there is still a bit of work to do.”
When asked whether he was expecting to see stronger numbers, Leclerc refrained from divulging additional details and commented that they will have a concrete picture of where the car stands in the pecking order once they arrive in Melbourne for the first race of the year.
“I prefer to wait before speaking. For now we are working a lot to try and improve this balance that we’ve been struggling with in the last few days.
“It’s only in Melbourne that we will see, when we’ll have everything in the best conditions to try and make the most out of the car.
“Basically we struggled a bit more with balance and it’s what we are focusing on now.”
Leclerc on McLaren and how Ferrari stack up against them
In terms of whether they expect to start the new season with the hierarchy McLaren and Ferrari established at the end of 2024, Leclerc acknowledged that the MCL39 has displayed strong characteristics so far on track.
Nevertheless, the Monégasque reiterated that drawing any premature conclusions would be imprudent and claimed that the data they have collected would guide them towards the right configuration before the first race in Australia next month.
“Mclaren seems like a very strong car for now, but it’s really early to speak. So we have to concentrate on ourselves and not get carried away by the first impressions.
“There are still many question marks, but we have learned a lot in these first tests and that will definitely help us find the right window by the first race.”
In reference to McLaren’s impressive long runs, the eight-time race winner stated that those numbers can be indicative of the MCL39’s potential. At the same time, he noted that there are too many variables during pre-season testing to regard the time sheets as conclusive.
Acknowledging that the data from F1 testing have helped them identify the areas they are lagging behind in comparison to McLaren, Leclerc added that the entire team, including Hamilton, is focused on maximising the potential of the SF-25 before the start of their 2025 campaign.
“Perhaps it’s a first idea of what we can expect. But there are still many unknown factors, so we should take those times for what they are.
“Nonetheless it was important for us to understand what we are missing compared to them [McLaren].
“There is still a lot of work to be ready for Melbourne and that’s what we are trying to do, with Lewis [Hamilton] as well.”
Hamilton after his final testing session of 2025
Hamilton sounded rather optimistic after the conclusion of pre-season testing and proclaimed that they have taken a step forward as a team. Despite the premature end to his session and the rain impacting their running on Thursday, the seven-time world champion remarked that they have collected a lot of relevant data to improve on before the season kicks off next month.
“Overall, it’s been a great few days and we’ve made some strong progress as a team. We had to finish a little earlier than planned today, and the weather has been hard to predict all week, but that’s how testing works sometimes, and we’ve managed to gather a lot of good information to build on before the season starts.
“The whole team has done an incredible job, and I’m so excited to get to the first race in Melbourne. I can’t wait to go racing with them.”
Team principal Fred Vasseur at the end of pre-season testing
Echoing the comments of his drivers regarding the unusual weather conditions in Bahrain, team boss Vasseur stated that they can only determine the pecking order when all twenty drivers take to the track in Melbourne.
Underscoring the optimistic atmosphere within the team after the successful completion of F1 testing, the Frenchman proclaimed that Ferrari are eager to challenge for both championships with the exciting line-up of Leclerc and Hamilton pushing them forward.
“It has been hard to get a clear read on the overall situation here in Bahrain, as the conditions were changing quite a lot day by day and from the morning to the afternoon. So it was more similar to Vegas than to the Bahrain we usually know.
“Over the past six months, we have worked very hard on this car and have made a good improvement, but we will have to wait until we are all on track in Melbourne to understand where we are.
“If we look at the hierarchy of previous years, what we saw here was not the same as in qualifying a week later, under the same conditions. We will go from 10-15 degrees on the track to the 45 we will have in Australia, so in Melbourne, it will probably be a whole different story.
“Ferrari wants to fight for both championships, as we know we have two drivers who can do it, and the mood in the team is very positive. We will continue to work hard to be ready in two weeks’ time for the start of the season.”
Co-author: Marika Petracca
