Hamilton causes stir off the track at pre-season testing

The three-day test in Bahrain has concluded and it looks very tight at the top ahead of Australia,

- Kieran Jackson

In a week where all eyes were on Lewis Hamilton’s first public outings in the Ferrari cockpit, it was away from the racetrack where he made his biggest waves.

Acting as creative director for his own TIME photoshoot and interview, in which he posed next to a stallion named Aroma, the seven-time Formula One world champion caused a stir with his punchy comments directed at “older, white men”.

“I’ve always welcomed the negativity,” he said in the interview. “I never, ever reply to any of the older, ultimately, white men who have commented on my career and what they think I should be doing. How you show up, how you present yourself, how you perform slowly dispels that.”

It was directed at the likes of Bernie Ecclestone and Eddie Jordan, who had cast doubt over Hamilton’s chances of success ahead of his highly anticipated first season at the fabled Italian giants.

But the official three-day pre-season test this week in Bahrain gave us a first indication of what the state of play is on the racetrack ahead of the 2025 season opener in Australia in a fortnight’s time. And it isn’t all sunshine and roses in scarlet red.

McLaren are No 1 – are they on a ‘different planet?’

The papaya picked up where they left off after their constructors’ triumph last year, ending a 26-year hoodoo. Lando Norris was quickest overall on day one but, more importantly, their race simulation runs on Thursday and Friday were superior to the rest of the chasing pack, at least from the figures available.

Norris’s race-run on Thursday was quicker than Liam Lawson, Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc, with an average time of half-a-second quicker per lap to Mercedes rookie Antonelli.