Ferrari, anxiety grows after the first tests in Bahrain: the results (and the words of Leclerc and Hamilton)

McLaren immediately protagonist in the first day of Formula 1 testing in Bahrain. The best time of the day was signed by Lando Norris, vice world champion and big favorite for the title, with 1'30"430 at the end of an afternoon session characterized by a stop of about an hour due to a blackout that affected the circuit and ended in light rain. Behind Norris are the Mercedes of George Russell and the Red Bull of the reigning champion Max Verstappen, detached respectively by 1.5 and 2 tenths. Only fourth time for Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari SF-25, detached by about 4 tenths from the McLaren.

The Monegasque driver completed about 67 laps and was also the protagonist of an off-track without consequences, while in the long runs he seemed less performing than the McLaren and the Red Bull. Behind the Ferrari driver was his former teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., fifth on his debut with Williams, about half a second away from the lead. A confirmation, however, that the most anticipated protagonists of the World Championship have already wanted to send a strong message to the competition. At Ferrari there was curiosity, obviously, for the official debut of Lewis Hamilton who - taking to the track in the morning session - finished with the 12th fastest time overall, 1.4 seconds from Norris. The English driver completed 69 laps to begin to gain confidence with his new car. Hamilton in the time count was preceded among others by his replacement at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who recorded the fastest time in the morning and the seventh fastest overall, 1 second from the top.

The 18-year-old Italian rookie also managed to complete 78 laps. Back to Hamilton, the 40-year-old British driver left Mercedes to join Ferrari this season after spending 12 years and winning six of his seven world titles with the Silver Arrows. After he drove out of the garage in the No. 44 red car at the Bahrain circuit, F1's social media channels posted the message: ' Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari Driver' followed by a heart emoji . Each team is only allowed to run one car at a time during pre-season testing. Wednesday's morning session also saw Hamilton edged ahead of Lawson, Verstappen's new partner at Red Bull this season, who was eighth overall despite a spin, with the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri and the Aston Martin of double champion Fernando Alonso finishing behind him. It must be said that test times often do not reflect the true pace of a driver or car due to different strategies, after all it is enough to remember that last year in the Bahrain test Ferrari set the two fastest times only to find themselves behind Red Bull and McLaren. Two factors mean that these pre-season tests could be less useful in predicting the teams' race pace this year. The weather so far on Wednesday has been windy and unusually cool for Bahrain, unlike a typical F1 race weekend. Finally, Bahrain will not host the season-opening race, as it did last year. The first GP of the season will be held in Australia in Melbourne on March 16. That is when the cards will be revealed.

And after the first laps, the first statements. From the Ferrari drivers, obviously. Phrases that to a certain extent, considering the result, betray a little concern . First up, Lewis Hamilton. "Testing is always interesting: for the first time you see what the various teams have developed and you can start to get familiar with the car and with the year ahead. Being here with Scuderia Ferrari and getting into the SF-25 here is an incredible feeling," the seven-time world champion began. "Our program involves trying different things, collecting as much data as possible and getting to know the car, and we've already learned a lot today. It's too early to really understand the absolute values, but everything seems to be going well and as a team we're working on the best way to optimise every outing on track," he added. And again: "There's still a lot to do in the coming days to complete our program and understand the car to the best of our ability, and I can't wait to get back on track tomorrow," Hamilton concluded.

Then Charles Leclerc: "It's great to be back on track. The whole team has put a lot of effort into the SF-25 project during the winter break, so it's exciting to finally be able to start pushing with the car. As for today, it's always good to have a smooth session , with no unpleasant surprises that affect the work programme. Having said that, it's still too early to draw conclusions about our performance. We'll analyse today's data carefully and use what we've learned tonight when we get back to work tomorrow," concluded the Monegasque. In short, we'll see...