​Bahrain Grand Prix: Hamilton hopes Ferrari upgrade makes the difference

Hamilton produced an encouraging drive when F1 pre-season testing took place at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.

But while he won the first sprint race of 2025 at the Chinese Grand Prix three weeks ago, the seven-time world champion has struggled for much of the season to date.

Hamilton finished 10th in Australia to start the campaign and seventh in Japan last week, having joined team-mate Charles Leclerc in being disqualified from the main race in China.

Ferrari have just 35 points on the board in the constructors' standings, well adrift of McLaren (111), Mercedes (75) and Red Bull (61).

If the 12 points earned through Hamilton's sprint victory are disregarded, their 23 points collected makes this their worst start after three races of a season since the current scoring system was introduced in 2010, falling short of the previous low mark of 26 points scored in 2023.

But with upgrades made to the floor of his car, Hamilton is hopeful of a better showing this week.

"We've got an upgrade this weekend, so I'm excited that hopefully we should have a bit more downforce", Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.

"I'm not really feeling a huge amount of issues, just a lack of overall performance pace-wise, which we can hopefully take a step [with] this weekend.

"I've done quite a bit of driving since the test that we had here, so I should be a lot more comfortable in the car than I was through testing."

Though Hamilton is realistic about Ferrari's chances of closing the gap to the McLarens, he is taking a long-term approach to the team's development.

"We're trying to figure out how to catch McLaren," Hamilton said.

"They've obviously got a great car. They won the constructors' championship last year, and they've started off pretty well this year, as have the other two top teams.

"I think we've learned a lot over the past few races. It's not necessarily closing the gap, but it should be going towards closing the gap.

"It's not closing the gap completely, but if we can extract more from the car, which is what we're trying to work on, hopefully we can see better results."

Last week's race at Suzuka was won by four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who had a new Red Bull team-mate following Liam Lawson's demotion.

Yuki Tsunoda qualified in 15th then raced his way to 12th, and while he is still adapting to Red Bull's F1 car after making the step up from Racing Bulls, he was amazed by the level of performance Verstappen was able to extract.

"In terms of how I got on in the car, it's still okay, it's too early to say if I'm able to drive comfortably or not," Tsunoda said.

"But I think I'm able to cope with the car balance that most drivers struggle with so far.

"Max's set-up helps the rear, and I think with that set-up in the simulator, I definitely felt the trickiness. It's incredible how he's able to cope with that kind of set-up."

No driver boasts more victories at the Bahrain Grand Prix than Hamilton's five, while his 11 podium finishes at the event are also an F1 record.

However, in terms of pole positions, he shares the record with Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen (three each), while Leclerc, with two, has the chance to match them.

Though Hamilton played down Ferrari's hopes of competing for the championship in pre-season, more was expected of the Scuderia, and their improvement must start now.

Norris continues to lead the way in the drivers' championship, but after finishing second to Verstappen in Japan, he is just a single point clear of the Dutchman.

This week, Norris will overtake Mika Hakkinen as the driver to compete for McLaren at the third-most grands prix, making his 132nd appearance.

He will also equal Jacques Lafite (132 races with Ligier) to go joint-10th in F1's all-time charts for grand prix appearances.

A podium finish, meanwhile, would be Norris's 30th in F1, making him the 38th driver to reach that figure.

No driver has won multiple races yet this season, but if Norris can become the first, that would ease the pressure being applied by Verstappen.

1. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 62 2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 61 3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 49 4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 45 5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 30