Lewis Hamilton settles for ninth in Bahrain qualifying but praises Ferrari SF-25’s quality. Nothing for Lewis Hamilton in the qualifying session for the Bahrain GP.

A dejected Lewis Hamilton settles for ninth place in qualifying for the Bahrain GP, but assures the quality of the Ferrari SF-25. The car, which is fitted with an updated floor in Sakhir, will start from the front row with Charles Leclerc. The gap between the two Ferrari SF-25 cars is quite significant, likely still due to a slow and complicated adaptation process for the seven-time world champion.

Another complicated Saturday for Lewis Hamilton. In the weekend of the first – and much-anticipated – updates on the car, the Stevenage native continues to struggle. There’s a lack of confidence in the car, a lack of experience in managing a completely new car that’s very different from the recent past of car #44. The car is not easy to drive, and the British champion struggles to find peace on track.

The gap to Charles Leclerc is too wide: the Monegasque (second on the grid after the penalty George Russell will have to serve) posts a 1:30.171, about three-tenths of a second behind pole-sitter Oscar Piastri. The other Ferrari, however, stops at 1:30.772, nearly a second behind the McLaren of the Australian and over seven-tenths of a second behind the sister car: “I apologize to the team, the fault is mine.”

The updated SF-25 performs well, but Lewis Hamilton does not.
The verdict on the updates brought to Bahrain is positive. Charles Leclerc confirms that, without the new floor, he wouldn’t have been able to be so far up. The package works, so it cannot be blamed for Hamilton’s poor performance. This is confirmed by the Briton himself, who apologizes to the team and takes full responsibility for his Saturday error.

“The good thing is that the car can offer much more than what I’m getting. Charles [Leclerc] did a great job today, and I apologize to the team for not doing the same. I don’t know if I’ll be able to recover tomorrow. I had a lot of degradation, I think it will be another tough day for me.”

McLaren remains the car to beat, with race pace that is difficult for all direct competitors to match. Behind Oscar Piastri, the battle is open: Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull are very close, and the fight for the podium is far from guaranteed. The Lando Norris factor is also interesting: the Briton will start sixth and will need to recover quickly to prevent his teammate from easily taking victory. The race is scheduled for 17:00 Central European Summer Time
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