Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton throughout a press convention forward of the Belgian Grand Prix. Photograph: REUTERS
SAKHIR:
Lewis Hamilton on Wednesday mentioned that Ferrari’s new automobile has his “DNA” inside it because the seven-time world champion put it by way of its paces on the primary day of the second pre-season take a look at in Bahrain.
Hamilton was seventh-fastest on the day and managed 44 laps, whereas his teammate Charles Leclerc put in 70 and was 0.6sec sooner in third place.
After a depressing first season at Ferrari final yr, seven-time world champion Hamilton mentioned he felt in sync with the Scuderia’s new automobile — the SF-26.
“Final yr we have been locked right into a automobile that finally I inherited,” Hamilton mentioned.
“This can be a automobile that I have been in a position to be part of creating on the simulator for the final 10 months.
“And so a little bit of my DNA is inside it. I am extra related to this one for positive.”
For the primary time in his profession, Hamilton did not even muster a podium end final time period as he struggled to adapt to his new environment.
However he mentioned he’s coming into the brand new season in a constructive way of thinking.
“I actually felt like I spent a variety of time rebuilding over this winter, refocusing, actually getting my physique and my thoughts to a a lot better place,” the 41-year-old mentioned.
“I typically really feel, personally, in the perfect place that I have been in an extended, very long time.
“After which the automobile, we have began off fairly nicely up to now. It is an thrilling time with this new era of automobile.”
Each automobile on the grid has undergone a radical change for the reason that finish of final season following dramatic regulation modifications to each chassis and engines.
However the 4 groups that topped the constructors’ standings final season — McLaren, Mercedes, Pink Bull and Ferrari — seem more and more dominant.
The target of those exams is to build up laps to gather as a lot information as doable on the reliability of the hybrid models — 50 % thermal, 50 % electrical — and the behaviour of the single-seaters, earlier than the primary Grand Prix of the season in Melbourne on March 8.
