Lewis Hamilton secured a fifth-place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix, marking his best result so far in the 2025 season apart from his sprint win in China.
The seven-time world champion has faced a challenging start to his Ferrari career but showed improvement during Sunday's race.
Hamilton, who started from ninth on the grid, benefited from Ferrari's alternative strategy compared to frontrunners McLaren and Mercedes.
Despite the encouraging performance, Ferrari still lacked the pace to challenge race winner Oscar Piastri.
Lewis Hamilton secured a fifth-place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix, marking his best result so far in the 2025 season apart from his sprint win in China
GETTY
The result represents progress for Hamilton as he continues to adapt to his new team after his long stint at Mercedes.
Hamilton has been candid about the challenges of adjusting to his new team environment.
"I've been driving a certain style and way for a long time with the same team, a new car has new systems this car requires a different driving style, I'm adjusting to that, slowly getting into that," he explained.
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"It requires such a different driving style and settings" ⚙️
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 13, 2025
Lewis Hamilton says he is learning to adjust to driving in the Ferrari 🔴 pic.twitter.com/xyvcrFPLSz
The Briton acknowledged he was significantly off teammate Charles Leclerc's pace in previous races.
"I was a long way away from Charles last weekend and this weekend I've got to do a better job, I know I can and I will," Hamilton said.
"I've got to make it easier for myself, I'm doing it the hard way at the moment.
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"Will try next week to start in a better place, I think I've figured out how the car likes to drive.
"If I qualify better I can have a much better weekend."
While Hamilton showed signs of progress, his teammate Charles Leclerc expressed concerns about Ferrari's overall performance.
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"We are just not fast enough, that's the summary," Leclerc said bluntly.
The Monegasque driver, who missed out on a podium position late in the Bahrain race, was disappointed with his fourth-place finish.
"We don't have that pace in the car, Mercedes were a bit better in degradation. The pace was just not there, it's very disappointing when you do everything quite well but it's P4," he added.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were unable to challenge the McLarens during Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix
REUTERS
Leclerc emphasised the need for improvement ahead of the next race.
"There is no regrets, we need to find some pace," he concluded.
F1 now heads to Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with Hamilton and Leclerc both eager to secure glory.
