Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris topped the times for McLaren as four red flags, two caused by trackside grass fires, wreaked havoc with the second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday.
The seven-time world champion, the sport's most successful driver with 105 grand prix victories and 202 podiums, said at an event for Ferrari partner Puma on Tuesday night that the excitement was building.
But there were no bold statements on race day as he struggled to take a point and his team mate Charles Leclerc laboured to an eighth-place finish.
'This is the most exciting period of my life, so I'm really just enjoying it and I'm so excited to get in the car tomorrow.'
Carlos Sainz completed a double race distance for previously struggling Williams and pushed his Ferrari successor Lewis Hamilton off the top of the testing
Lewis Hamilton smashed the Shanghai circuit lap record on his way to a stunning first sprint race pole for Ferrari in China on Friday.
Drivers returned to the pits, under a darkening sky, with engineers using torches in the garages before back-up generators came on and the session resumed about an hour later.
Born in Paris to Algerian scientist parents and competing with a French licence, the Racing Bulls driver stands out at the top level of the sport for his North African heritage as well as results.
Lewis Hamilton has expressed his total confidence in Ferrari after the Italian Formula One team's double disqualification in China.
Leclerc and teammate Lewis Hamilton were eighth and 10th in the season-opener in Australia and finished fifth and sixth in China two weeks ago before both cars were disqualified for technical infringements.
Seven-times World champion Lewis Hamilton appeared in Ferrari red for the first time outside of Italy as Formula One put on an unprecedented and spectacular 10-team season launch in front of 15,000 fans on Tuesday.
Hamilton, who finished fourth on Sunday and joins Ferrari next year, has always raced with a Mercedes engine since his debut at McLaren in 2007.
Lewis Hamilton said he was 'really enjoying' driving his Ferrari after ending the second morning of Formula One's pre-season testing in Bahrain
Born on March 30, 1948, Jordan competed in motor racing's junior series before becoming a driver manager and then a team owner.
In the constructors' standings, Ferrari closed the gap to McLaren to 24 points.
Hamilton told reporters at pre-season testing in Bahrain that he had yet to broach the subject of 'Hammer Time' with race engineer Adami.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame joined Max Verstappen on stage when the Red Bull driver collected the F1 champion's trophy for the fourth year in a row.
The 40-year-old, who won six of his world championships at Mercedes, also unveiled a new bright yellow helmet, as he continues his first official week at Ferrari which began at the team's headquarters on Monday.
Charles Leclerc won the US Grand Prix in a Ferrari one-two with Carlos Sainz on Sunday as Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen dealt Lando Norris a significant setback in their title battle.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen dealt Lando Norris a shattering blow in their Formula One title battle by winning a wet and chaotic Sao Paulo Grand Prix from 17th on the grid.
Lewis Hamilton raced one last time for Mercedes on Sunday, Formula One's most successful driver and team partnership ending in a cloud of tyre smoke
The final phase of qualifying was halted, with only Piastri and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg having set times, when Sainz slammed backwards into the barriers at the final corner as he prepared to start his flying lap.
McLaren's Lando Norris dominated the Singapore Grand Prix from start to finish on Sunday to take another chunk out of Max Verstappen's Formula One championship lead.
Leclerc was 11 seconds clear with seven laps to go and 8.3 ahead with five remaining as the massed ranks of 'tifosi' willed him on.
Red Bull make changes to car after discussions with FIA
Red Bull's Verstappen, who had been on pole at Zandvoort every year since the circuit returned in 2021 and has yet to be beaten there, will still line up alongside the Briton on the front row.
Rishabh Pant has been nominated for the prestigious Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award.
The track time will also help him earn enough points to apply for a Super Licence, which is needed to compete in Formula 1.
McLaren's Lando Norris hailed the best qualifying lap of his career after beating F1 leader Max Verstappen to pole position at the US Grand Prix.
George Russell led Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes front-row lockout in qualifying for the British Grand Prix on Saturday with McLaren's Lando Norris completing a rare one-two-three of home drivers.
Red Bull's triple world champion Max Verstappen followed up a Saturday sprint win with a statement pole position for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix, with McLaren's Lando Norris again alongside on the front row.
The win was a first for Ferrari in Mexico since 1990 and fourth of Carlos Sainz's career.
Stewards at the Brazilian race summoned Leclerc on Friday, acting on a report from the governing FIA's media delegate and after reviewing a written transcript.
Lewis Hamilton shed pent-up tears of joy after ending a 945-day wait for a win with a record ninth British Grand Prix victory in front of his home fans on Sunday.
Lando Norris put McLaren on pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday
Mercedes' George Russell celebrated a surprise Austrian Grand Prix win on Sunday after Red Bull's triple world champion Max Verstappen and McLaren's Lando Norris collided late in the race
Verstappen, who had started alongside Norris on the front row, was leading by lap three and could then build a buffer and take control.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo won the Italian Grand Prix in a stunning McLaren one-two with Lando Norris at Monza on Sunday.
Max Verstappen, who could seal his fourth successive championship on Saturday, will line up fifth on the starting grid
Mercedes driver George Russell has been disqualified and lost his Belgium Grand Prix win on Sunday, after his car was found to be underweight, and his teammate Lewis Hamilton was promoted to first place.
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