Scuderia Ferrari British driver Lewis Hamilton described his first day driving the Maranello team’s SF-25 at the Singapore Grand Prix as a positive experience, noting the importance of learning the nuances of a new car on a challenging street circuit.
“It has generally been a good day, I have enjoyed driving the car,” Lewis Hamilton said after Friday’s practice sessions at the Marina Bay street circuit. The seven-time world champion reflected on experiencing Singapore from a Ferrari cockpit for the first time. “It’s the first time driving a Ferrari at this track and I’ve always wondered all these years, from looking on onboards over the years, what the differences would be. It’s the first time I got to feel that today and it was positive.”
Lewis Hamilton acknowledged the competitive pace of McLaren, emphasizing the challenges of setting a clean lap in such conditions. “Obviously, McLaren’s very fast and getting a clean lap is not easy, but I feel like there’s lots of positives to take from today, lots of learnings and quite happy with the progress that we’ve made from session to session,” he added.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s qualifying, Lewis Hamilton was cautiously optimistic. “I felt like we’ve made steps forward today so I feel like overnight we probably won’t change much. But, of course, trying to refine the set-up and see if we can extract a little bit more to get as close as we can to the McLarens.”
The Mercedes-powered McLarens have traditionally been strong on the Marina Bay Street Circuit, making Lewis Hamilton’s learning curve on his first Ferrari outing especially critical. The Friday sessions provided valuable data for the Maranello team to fine-tune car balance, tire performance, and setup adjustments ahead of qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton’s remarks underline his methodical approach to understanding a new car and a new track, emphasizing steady progress and the importance of incremental improvements rather than drastic changes. As Singapore often produces unpredictable races, his positive first impressions set a hopeful tone for Ferrari as they aim to challenge for top positions this weekend.
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