Lewis Hamilton is mid-table in the Formula 1 championship ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix. He hasn’t finished higher than seventh in a full race this season, but he unquestionably remains the biggest star on the grid.

Hamilton is the most successful driver in the history of the sport. While he’s only won two races since the start of the ground-effect era in 2022, he still leads the all-time leaderboard on 105.

Only Michael Schumacher has won as many world championships (seven), and Hamilton is out on his own for poles (104), podiums (202) and points (4,877.5). Max Verstappen can tie Sebastian Vettel for second on the latter leaderboard this weekend.

Photo by FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images
Bahrain was the site of Hamilton’s first official laps as a Ferrari driver in February. Fans inevitably surrounded the Fiorano test track near the team HQ to watch him test the 2023 car, but the three days in Sakhir provided the first meaningful glimpse of the biggest F1 driver transfer ever.

Lewis Hamilton was able to use a special entrance at the Bahrain Grand Prix

During testing, Hamilton tried to avoid photographers. He may have felt the publicity was a distraction as he set to work adapting to a new team after 12 years at Mercedes.

The 40-year-old is the main attraction for the image providers, but on Thursday, he was able to take a shorter route to the Ferrari facility. This is because, according to Kym Illman, he received a ‘special’ pass.

No other driver had the same access – not even teammate Charles Leclerc. Hamilton then carried out his media duties as normal on a weekend where Ferrari are trialling a key upgrade.

“This paddock is impressive and long,” Illman said. “The drivers have two entrances to come in, but to get one of the entrances, you need a special car pass.

“Only one driver had that car pass today. It wasn’t Lando Norris, it wasn’t Charles Leclerc, it wasn’t Alex Albon and it wasn’t Nico Hulkenberg.

“It was indeed Lewis Hamilton. That enabled him to take the shortest route possible to his hospitality suite on what has been a very hot day.”

Did Ferrari control Lewis Hamilton interview before Bahrain Grand Prix?

Hamilton is to test Ferrari’s new floor in FP1, where he’ll be joined by rookie Dino Beganovic. It’s the first major upgrade from a top team in 2025.

Ferrari may have brought the new underbody, which is more important than ever in generating performance, earlier than planned after their poor start. They are 76 points behind McLaren after just three races.

Speaking after his P7 finish in Japan, Hamilton flagged up an issue with his car that was costing him half a tenth relative to his teammate. But he wouldn’t elaborate in his Bahrain interviews.

Ted Kravitz wonders if Ferrari told Hamilton not to discuss the issue, hence his guarded demeanour. There aren’t any genuine signs of tension yet, but there will be a growing desperation for a breakthrough.