Formula 1 kicks off its 2025 season on Wednesday in Bahreïn where the ten stables and twenty pilots have an appointment for winter tests, with the main attraction of the official beginnings of the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari. “We are ready to win the title,” said the British driver last week.
A week after the presentation evening organized with great fanfare in London, the atmosphere will be more felted in the paddock of the Sakhir circuit where the teams will have work to do two weeks from the first of the 24 Grands Prix of the season in Australia.
If we already know the deliveries of the single -seaters and we have already been able to see some images of some of them on the track, these three days of preseason tests will allow us to know a little more about the performance of each other during this season which promises to be very tight.
“A good fight”
“I think it will be the continuity of last year with four teams (McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes, editor’s note) capable of winning races, capable of winning the championship and it will be a good fight,” predicted Frédéric Vasseur, the owner of Ferrari.
In this last year of the regulatory cycle before the big upheaval of 2026 which will see the technical regulations change enormously, whether for the engine or for the chassis, the convergence observed in 2024 should continue, resulting in the hierarchy.
The single -seaters will be an extension of those of last year, and even if the stables put the double bites during the off -season to improve their tool, they already have their eyes riveted on 2026 and will soon stop the development of the 2025 car to focus on their single year.
Three days of driving
While waiting for the time of choice, the ten stables will use these three days of driving in the Gulf to learn more and refine the settings for the first race, on March 16 in Melbourne.
Even if it will be necessary to remain cautious and not to draw too hasty conclusions, the winter tests had made it possible last year to detect the superiority of the Red Bull or the great difficulties of Alpine for example.
But before talking about Chrono, the Sakhir circuit will be above all the long -awaited moment for a year: the first official tracks of the British Lewis Hamilton aboard a Ferrari, after twelve seasons with Mercedes.
Six rookies
These tests will also allow the six “rookies” (novices) to take their marks. If the New Zealander Liam Lawson, a new teammate at Red Bull of the Dutch Quadruple World Champion Max Verstappen already has 11 Grands Prix on the clock, the Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), the Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) and the Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Bulls) have never been running in the queen category and Home to store a lot of information this week.
“I can’t wait to see what it will give to Bahrain. I am waiting for these tests with great impatience, Hadjar underlined with AFP. Am I ready for F1? Honestly, I will have my answer after the days of testing. For the moment, I’m still a little apprehensive. But I made the preparation that I needed before this test. I couldn’t have been better preparing. ”
