Ferrari's SF-25 is "responding to my inputs," claims Lewis Hamilton

F1 Grand Prix, GP Qatar, Losail International Circuit

After a productive second day in Bahrain, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton insisted that he is slowly "eking out a little bit more each time" he heads out on the Bahrain track with his SF-25.

Today’s test took place in Bahrain but one could be forgiven for thinking it was happening at a European track. Not only was it cool, but there was even some rain.

Despite the challenging conditions, Lewis Hamilton completed 45 laps (243 kilometres) before handing over the SF-25 to Charles Leclerc who racked up 84 laps (454 kilometres) making a daily total of 129 laps (697 kilometres).

As was the case yesterday in Sakhir, the seven-time F1 champion was first out on track in the SF-25, gathering more data for the team, but also beginning to push harder to get a better understanding of the new car. The Englishman spent the entire time on the C3 tyres, switching between used and new sets.

In the afternoon, the Monegasque started off on a used set of C3 tyres, before fitting a new one and picking up the pace. Leclerc worked through the planned programme including a qualifying and race simulation. The 27-year-old driver's time on his flying lap was 1’29”431 on the C3 compound. For the long run, he used the C3, C2 and C1 compounds.

The 105-time F1 race winner disclosed that he would have ideally complete more mileage on the second day of pre-season testing, but the weather conditions restricted his programme.

"It’s been another positive day for us in Bahrain. We’re making strong progress in understanding the SF-25 and learning how to get the most out of it, and the reliability is good so far which is a really positive sign.

"We didn’t get to do as much running as we hoped because of the weather, but we have more time on track tomorrow to work through our programme and to build even more comfort in the car. I’m really enjoying working with the team and we’re all looking forward to the final push tomorrow."

Asked to reveal how he is settling in at the Scuderia, Hamilton insisted that he still needs to get to used to way Ferrari's car operates.

“We’re testing a bunch of things. So I’m not doing set-up changes or directing where I want the car to go. We’re just going through the motions. Today was a bit more of getting to explore a bit of my interaction with my engineer. So far I really enjoy driving this car.”

“All the settings are so different. So even just brake bias and all those sorts of things, it's much different to what I had in the previous place. It’s not necessarily unlearning what I did before, but kind of relearning this new way of working and where the car likes to be driven.

“It likes to be driven differently. And that's a really fun journey learning that. But at the moment, it feels that we definitely feel the car underneath me. I feel that the car is responding to my inputs," concluded the Briton.

Commenting on his programme, Leclerc said that track conditions made it difficult to analyze the pecking order.

"It was more tricky today on track because of what are unusual weather conditions for Bahrain, with cooler temperatures and even some rain.

"We ran through our planned programme, but with the conditions changing quickly, it was difficult to draw many conclusions. Tonight we are fully focused on analysing our data and preparing for the last day of testing tomorrow."