It was an unusual Lewis Hamilton who appeared in front of the media after FP2 in Abu Dhabi: the British driver offered a dose of “hope” for the Ferrari SF-25. In contrast with his recent on-track appearances, Hamilton struck a more optimistic tone after Friday at Yas Marina. The seven-time world champion skipped the opening session, giving the seat to Arthur Leclerc, who finished sixteenth with a time of 1:25.360. In FP2, Lewis Hamilton did not fare much better than the Monegasque, ending the session in fourteenth place with a 1:23.939. This time, however, there were some positive signs.
Ferrari’s Friday, even at Yas Marina, was once again difficult to interpret. In both free practice sessions, Charles Leclerc was the strongest driver in the SF-25, taking third place in FP1 and then eighth in FP2. The car once again appeared tricky to handle, although it produced some interesting splits that, with a setup correction, leave a glimmer of hope heading into qualifying.
“I still have hope that this car has potential,” Lewis Hamilton admitted after the second practice session. “I told the team, though, that there are still some problems. What can we do to improve our setup? And then there’s the bouncing we’re experiencing, plus the understeer. If we manage to fix these things for FP3, then I think we could find ourselves in a slightly better position.”
Lewis Hamilton praises the work done by Arthur Leclerc
“In the first and second sectors I was there in terms of pace, it wasn’t that bad,” the seven-time world champion continued. “It was only when I got to the third sector that I was losing something like seven tenths. If I can sort that out for tomorrow, then I think we can do better.”
Skipping FP1 was certainly a disadvantage, but the Stevenage-born driver praised the work done by Arthur Leclerc: “He did a good job this morning. It’s always great to see young drivers grow, to see what they do and watch them shine. Ultimately, though, for whoever skips the session, it’s always a bit of a disadvantage.”
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