Hamilton hinted that there was little time to prepare.

      Lewis Hamilton stressed that drivers who joined Ferrari from other teams in the relatively recent past, such as Sebastian Vettel, were in a more favorable position than he was, since they started testing cars built in Maranello much earlier.

      Lewis means that Vettel got behind the wheel of a two-year-old Ferrari in the fall of 2014 and conducted intensive tests at the factory track in Fiorano in November and December.

      But Hamilton formally remained a Mercedes driver until his contract expired, i.e. until December 31 last year, and did not arrive at the Maranello base until mid-January.

      "I still feel like I can improve significantly, and fortunately I had the opportunity to drive the 2023 car, so I can compare it with last year's car," the seven–time world champion told RacingNews365. "I can see where the team has made progress, how it has solved problems related to these two machines, and what has been improved in the SF-25.

      I didn't participate in the tests at the end of last year, so I started working relatively late compared to other drivers who joined Ferrari before me. For example, when Sebastian played for this team, I think he started working in November, so he had two whole months at his disposal.

      In my case, a very dense program was squeezed into a shorter period of time, but personally I like to fully immerse myself in work and figure everything out. This is exactly the process that is going on now, and it seems to me that we have laid a really good foundation. Although it is clear that until next week we will not be able to find out the whole truth about the balance of power and what level we are at. But we know that we have a lot to work on."