Topics: Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton's fastest lap time has emerged following his test of the new Ferrari SF-25 alongside team-mate Charles Leclerc at Maranello.
Leclerc and Hamilton took part in a test session on Wednesday, after appearing at the F175 launch to unveil their 2025 challenger.
The Brit revealed that the pair landed back in Italy at 4am on Wednesday morning - with Hamilton making sure to stay awake while Leclerc did his morning runs in the new Ferrari to ensure they both had the same amount of sleep.
That will also have ensured another minor benchmark between the two drivers as they prepare for the 2025 season.
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While both cars will start the season exactly the same, the team will need to design setups for each driver based on their own preferences.
According to Spanish outlet Marca, Hamilton's fastest lap time on Wednesday afternoon at Maranello was 0.8 seconds slower than the quickest lap set by Leclerc, whose time of 56.060 seconds was under a tenth slower than the all-time lap record of the track set by Michael Schumacher in 2004.
The times, though, aren't yet representative as both drivers were using special Pirelli tyre compounds which will not be used in 2025.
Fuel loads and tyre wear were also not recorded on each driver's fastest times, so it is impossible to know the true pace of either driver during Wednesday's test session.
What the Scuderia may be secretly pleased about, though, is the fact that Leclerc and Hamilton's best lap times were both quicker than what the Ferrari SF-24 managed at this time last year.
Ferrari will get a slightly better indication of where the land lies during official pre-season testing in Bahrain next week - though, again, the two drivers will no doubt be running different programmes and at different times of the day.
The 2025 season kicks off on March 16 with the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne.
Hamilton does not have a particularly strong win record - by his own incredibly high standards - it comes to the circuit, having converted only two of his eight pole positions to victories in the past.
Leclerc, meanwhile, won the Grand Prix for the first and only time in 2022 before finishing second behind Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz.
(via Oddschecker)
