Lewis Hamilton gives a resounding 'I feel at home' verdict after a spectacular run in his Ferrari at the F1 pre-season test
Lewis Hamilton has shared a resounding verdict with Ferrari after his second day of running at the F1 pre-season test. The driver started life a bit gingerly on the first day, where he gradually got more and more used to the car. The third day, however, has been remarkably better, and it showed on track.
While the first day featured a lot of correction behind the steering wheel from the driver, as the team was still trying to find the right balance, the second day was more representative as Hamilton looked more at home with the car.
It was also evident in the fastest lap that he put together, where the driver was even quicker than the qualifying lap he'd done in the Mercedes last season at the track. Looking at the onboard, one could see Lewis Hamilton not trying to drag every ounce out of the car as the driver, an indication that there's more to come in terms of lap time.
Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, the 7x world champion was quite upbeat as he declared that he was feeling at home at Ferrari. He said:
“How you start is often very important and this past month couldn’t have gone any better. Every day has been significant. They have been 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.”
The contrast with Lewis Hamilton's quotes from the first day
The contrast of Lewis Hamilton's quotes from the first day to the second was quite visible. Earlier, the driver talked more about how he felt driving the car for the first time. The driver mentioned how he was looking to learn and understand how everything works. He said:
"Testing is always exciting. 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."
He added:
"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."
The fact that Lewis Hamilton already seems more at home in the Ferrari as compared to his last season at Mercedes was certainly a positive, and it would help the driver build on a strong foundation.