F1 LIVE: Hamilton’s Confidence Soars After Barcelona Performance Ahead of Bahrain GP

Lewis Hamilton delivers fastest lap as Barcelona test wraps up

Lewis Hamilton pulled out all the stops yesterday, setting the unofficial fastest lap in the final moments of Barcelona testing. The seven-time world champion jumped into the Mercedes after his teammate’s session and clocked an impressive 1:16.348 on soft tires.

This wasn’t just the quickest time of the day – it topped the entire five-day test.

Newly crowned champion Lando Norris finished just behind Hamilton, showing some promising early performance in the MCL40 after McLaren skipped the first few days of running.

Hamilton’s late effort narrowly beat out teammate George Russell, whose 1:16.445 from day four had been the benchmark until those final laps.

The test gave us our first real glimpse at how the cars might perform this season, with Mercedes making a statement right at the end.

Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda is staying busy off the track. While his former rivals were putting in laps on the final test day, the Japanese driver announced his first book is coming out February 20.

Tsunoda, who’s not on the F1 grid this year for the first time since 2021, has titled his book simply “Yuki.”

“It’s a lot of things, including conversations that you don’t usually hear, and aspects that you haven’t shown before. Please look forward to it!” he shared across his social media.

Seems like he’s finding ways to stay connected with fans even without a race seat this season.

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