Lewis Hamilton behind his Mercedes successor Antonelli as F1 testing begins

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain in action during a Formula One pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain in action during a Formula One pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain in action during a Formula One pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

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Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy in action during a Formula One pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during a Formula One pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

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Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso of Spain in action during a Formula One pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

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Red Bull driver Liam Lawson of New Zealand in action during a Formula One pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain in action during a Formula One pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain in action during a Formula One pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — Lewis Hamilton was fifth-fastest in his first session of preseason testing with Ferrari as his replacement at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, posted the fastest time.

The 18-year-old Italian rookie topped the standings among the 10 drivers on track in Wednesday’s morning session, also managing a joint-best 78 laps completed. Liam Lawson was .132 of a second off the pace despite a spin.

Hamilton was .406 down in fifth as he completed 70 laps in the new Ferrari SF-25. Times in testing often don’t reflect a driver or car’s true pace because of different strategies.

The 40-year-old British driver left Mercedes to join Ferrari this season after spending 12 years and winning six of his seven world titles with the Silver Arrows.

After Hamilton drove out of the garage in the red car No. 44 at the circuit in Bahrain, F1’s social media posted the message: “Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari driver” followed by a heart emoji.

Hamilton joined the team last month and will line up in the 2025 season alongside Charles Leclerc, who has been at Ferrari since 2019.

Each team is allowed one car on track at a time during preseason testing. Wednesday’s morning session saw Hamilton joined by Liam Lawson, who’s partnering champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull this season, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin.

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton meet fans after testing the new Ferrari SF-25 at Fiorano circuit, near Maranello, Italy, Wednesday Feb. 19, 2025. (Davide Gennari/LaPresse via AP)

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Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy, left, and Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, pose for cameras as they arrive to the F1 75 Live launch event at the O2 arena in London, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton waves during the F1 75 Live event at the O2 arena in London, England, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)

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Two factors mean preseason testing could be less useful in predicting the teams’ race pace this year.

The weather so far Wednesday has been windy and unusually cool for Bahrain, unlike a typical F1 race weekend.

Bahrain also isn’t hosting the opening race of the season, like it did last year. The first race is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 16.

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