Hamilton finds new F1 cars 'more fun' to drive

Lewis Hamilton says he finds this year's Formula 1 cars "more fun" to drive - in contrast to Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso's assessment of the impact of the new rules.

F1 has made the biggest rule change in its history and introduced new regulations for chassis, engines, tyres and fuel.

Verstappen has criticised the amount of energy management required from the new hybrid engines, but Hamilton said he was enjoying the reduced grip of the cars and different aerodynamic philosophy.

"We just have a less downforce," the Ferrari driver said. "But you still have to discover the grip. There's still so many elements completely under our control.

"So, it's just different, and new, and I still find it quite fun.

"The cars are more fun to drive. They're easier to correct. So you have snaps and keep them on track. The previous year's cars were a bit too on edge."

But Alonso said that a driver's skill was not as important as before, because optimum energy management meant some corners were taken slower than they could be because doing so gained more lap time from having extra energy to deploy on straights than was lost through the bends.

Alonso said: "You're always on the limit on the grip. It depends on the corners. You're always on the limit on the grip in a rental car if you push to the limit.

"But the high-speed corners, especially, I think it's less challenging. You have to say that. There's nothing wrong to say [that].

"In Turn 12 in Bahrain, and some of the corners maybe in Barcelona, you decide to save energy and go through the corner at a slower speed so you have more energy for the straight.

"From a driver's point of view the skills matter less because you can go as fast as the energy choice you make before that corner, so it's a different Formula 1."

Following Verstappen's criticism of the new engines last week, in which he said the new cars were like "Formula E on steroids" and "just not Formula 1", he said: "You're fighting the grip. You're on the limit of what you have, for sure. It's just not as much now.

"Of course, I also know that this probably is one of the worst [circuits], in terms of the grip feeling that you get from a car, because of the tarmac being so aggressive.

"A lot less downforce but at the same time, you also don't get a lot of combined grip [in the braking and turning phase] at the moment. It's a bit hard to manage."

Hamilton said he did not yet have a clear picture on how the new rules would affect racing, and said: "I don't know if it's going to be better."

On the first day of the final three-day pre-season test, Mercedes driver George Russell ended up fastest by 0.01 seconds from McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

Headline times in pre-season testing are notoriously unreliable indicators of actual competitive form, but the word in the paddock at this stage is that Mercedes are still leading the way in the lead-up to the season, with Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari in close company.

However, there is still time for that picture to change over the final two days of the test.

The troubled Aston Martin team improved after their dire first test last week, with Lance Stroll ending the day 2.5secs off the pace.

However, both the car and engine are recognised as being off the pace. But their lead driver Fernando Alonso admitted the team faced a difficult time in the first part of the season.

"Everything can be fixed, for sure," he said, "short and medium term. I don't think there is anything that is impossible to fix.

"We will try to fix everything that we can before Australia and after that we try to fix as many things as possible in the first couple of races. Because it's too late in the championship. But I'm optimistic. I think there is a solution in place."

The season starts with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 6-8 March.

First day, final pre-season test, Bahrain

1 George Russell (GB) Mercedes one minute 33.459 seconds

2 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren +0.010

3 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari +0.280

4 Lando Norris (GB) McLaren +0.593

5 Kimi Antonelli (Ita) Mercedes +0.699

6 Isack Hadjar (Fra) Red Bull +0.801

7 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Ferrari +0.840

8 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Williams +1.654

9 Franco Colapinto (Arg) Alpine +1.795

10 Gabriel Bortoleto (Brz) Audi +1.804

11 Alex Albon (Tha) Williams +2.231

12 Liam Lawson (NZ) Racing Bulls +2.294

13 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine +2.439

14 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin +2.515

15 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine +2.959

16 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin +3.077

17 Nico Hülkenberg (Ger) Audi +3.282

18 Arvid Lindblad (GB) Racing Bulls +3.310

19 Oliver Bearman (GB) Haas +3.311

20 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Cadillac +3.787

21 Sergio Pérez (Mex) Cadillac +4.732

*Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the car all day on Thursday