Source:REUTERS/ XXSTRINGERXX xxxxx
[Saba Sports News] Since Lewis Hamilton joined the Ferrari team, one of the most discussed topics has been his current absolute speed, especially given that his new teammate Charles Leclerc is a very fast driver. For Hamilton to achieve his long-desired eighth world championship, the primary condition is to outperform his teammate. Recently, during tire tests in Barcelona, Hamilton’s speed was nearly 2 seconds slower than Leclerc’s. At that time, both were driving Ferrari’s old model, and Leclerc was more familiar with the car than Hamilton, making the results not entirely comparable. This week, Ferrari unveiled their new season car, the SF-25, with Leclerc conducting a brief test at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track, completing about 30 laps; Hamilton took over his teammate’s duties in the afternoon. This was the only opportunity for Hamilton and Leclerc to drive the SF-25 before the official pre-season test in Bahrain on February 26. The test results may disappoint Hamilton’s fans, as his lap time was 0.8 seconds slower than his teammate. In F1 racing, this is a significant gap. If Hamilton discovers that his speed cannot even match that of his teammate, he will certainly struggle to defeat rivals like Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, putting his dream of an eighth championship at risk.