“It’s hard to believe it’s the last day of testing,” he said during Friday’s press conference, before he got in the car for his final run. “It’s kind of crazy – it’s so short for everyone but it’s a vital few days that you get in the car.
“We’re just focusing on doing the best job we can with what we have and understanding the package we have. And for me, I’m learning more and more how the team likes to work – and making small tweaks here and there to improve my efficiency and the efficiency of how we work together. So, it’s been positive.”
‘It looks very, very close’
It looks too close to call at the sharp end, with McLaren and Ferrari very evenly matched – both in short and long runs.
“[McLaren] look really quick, really competitive,” added Hamilton. “It looks very, very close. We won’t know till next week truly exactly where we stand, but we know that we’ve got work to do.”
Just being in the fight with such limited preparation – he has had a couple of runs in a 2023-spec car, a run in the 2024-spec car that was modified for Pirelli tyre testing, a brief shakedown in the 2025 car and then this Bahrain test – will be music to Hamilton’s ears.