Hamilton getting there, ‘slowly bonding’ with Ferrari SF-25

Lewis Hamilton is slowly settling into life in red, and it seems the seven-time champ is nicely growing accustomed to Ferrari’s SF-25 contender.

Speaking after topping the morning session on day two of pre-season testing in Bahrain, the Briton revealed that he’s “slowly bonding” with the Scuderia’s 2025 war horse—a machine he hopes will catapult him to a record-breaking eighth world title.

It’s early days, but Hamilton’s second outing this week with the Italian outfit suggests he’s shaking off the ghosts of a tricky Mercedes farewell and embracing the Prancing Horse with open arms.

Last season, Hamilton waved goodbye to Mercedes after a legendary 12-year stint, but his final lap with the Silver Arrows was no fairytale.

The W15 was a fickle beast, leaving him outpaced by teammate George Russell and sparking whispers about whether the 40-year-old still had the magic touch.

Now, clad in red, he’s out to prove the doubters wrong. His Bahrain benchmark on Thursday – later topped by Williams’ Carlos Sainz, the man he replaced – offered a glimmer of promise, and Hamilton’s sounding optimistic about his new ride.

Slowly Bonding

“I am really enjoying the car. We’re slowly bonding,” Hamilton said, a hint of a grin breaking through his usual cool demeanor.

“Yesterday was a so-so day, just OK. But we got through all our run-plan. We’re testing a bunch of things, so I’m not doing set-up changes or directing where I want the car to go.

“We’re just getting through the motions. Today was a bit more of getting to explore a bit of my interaction with my engineer.

“But so far I really enjoy driving this car.”

It’s not quite love at first sight, but Hamilton’s clearly warming up to the SF-25, treating it like a new dance partner he’s learning to twirl around the track.

Testing’s a grind – less about outright pace, more about ticking boxes – but Hamilton’s already clocking laps that hint at big things to come.

A Crash Course in Ferrari Lingo

Of course, switching teams – and more importantly cultures – after over a decade isn’t all smooth sailing.

Hamilton admitted he’s still decoding Ferrari’s playbook, grappling with a vocabulary that’s throwing him for a loop.

“The effect is slightly different and the names they have are different,” he explained, “but ‘roll’ is still ‘roll’ and ‘anti-roll bar’ is still ‘anti-roll bar’.

"Some of the other parts of the geometry, there are different words for it. So I’ve got it on my computer and I’m studying it each day and night to make sure I understand when they talk about these different components.”

It’s a steep learning curve for someone who spent 12 years speaking Mercedes-ese.

“I’ve done 12 years in another place where we talked about the same thing all the time. So I was used to it, I knew exactly what they are meaning,” he said.

“But every time [Ferrari] mention [something] in a debrief I’m like: ‘What part is this? Okay, it’s this part.’ It’s part of the learning process and that’s what makes it exciting, because it’s all new.

“I’m loving that newness.”

Picture Hamilton, hunched over his laptop, muttering Italian engineering terms like a student cramming for finals – it’s a endearing twist for a champ who’s seen it all.

Slowly bonding? Sure – but if this is slow, the F1 world can’t wait to see what happens when Hamilton and his scarlet steed are fully in sync. Watch this space.

• Read also: Leclerc enjoyed F1 off-season ‘in the shadow’ of Hamilton

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