Lewis Hamilton said Ferrari "definitely have some work to do to improve" as his former Mercedes team-mate George Russell set the pace on the final day of pre-season testing.

Charles Leclerc led the way for Ferrari during the morning's running, before Russell pipped Max Verstappen by 0.021 seconds five minutes before the end of Friday's running. 

Hamilton ended the day sixth fastest in his Ferrari, 0.8 seconds adrift of Russell, while there was a surprise inclusion in the top three for the Williams of Alex Albon. 

McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Alpine's Pierre Gasly finished just ahead of Hamilton, with the Briton conceding improvements need to be made before the first race in Melbourne on March 16. 

"It's hard to know what fuel loads everyone is running so you have to take everything with a pinch of salt," Hamilton said. 

"(McLaren) won the constructors' (title) last year. We expect them to be one of the quickest if not the quickest.

"As with Red Bull, they dominated for many years. We've definitely got some work to do to improve."

Day 3

The final day of #F1Testing is done and dusted and the classification is in...#F1 pic.twitter.com/GI83UpRC8F

— Formula 1 (@F1) February 28, 2025

Hamilton, speaking before he drove in the afternoon session, was optimistic about his first pre-season test with his new team.

"I feel like we've built a really good foundation, but these guys out there look really competitive, it looks very close," he said.

"This is the most positive feeling I've had for a long time."

Hamilton's day ended early when Ferrari curtailed his running prematurely, before he was able to complete the planned race distance.

He was nearly 0.5secs quicker than team-mate Leclerc but was running a tyre compound one step softer. 

Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli completed the top 10 on the final day, with title favourite Lando Norris finishing pre-season testing in 11th. 

The Williams of Carlos Sainz took the accolade of the fastest overall time in the three days of testing, clocking in at 1:29.348 around the Bahrain International Circuit.