Lewis Hamilton was caught up in an awkward moment on the first day of pre-season testing while driving for Ferrari.
The seven-time champion got behind the wheel for the morning session, with Charles Leclerc taking over in the afternoon. He looked mostly assured but had a couple of nervy moments, running wide on two occasions.
Hamilton finished the session in fifth place after clocking 40 laps of the Bahrain International Circuit, with Kimi Antonelli topping the timesheets to lay down an early marker for Mercedes.
It was somewhat strange to see Hamilton driving a Ferrari in the public eye for the very first time, given his iconic association with the Silver Arrows prior to his exit at the end of last season.
Even the broadcast team at Formula One have been struggling to get to grips with his move to Maranello. At one point during the session, he was incorrectly labelled as a Mercedes driver in an on-screen graphic.
The mistake appeared on the live broadcast on F1TV and Sky Sports and was not picked up by any of the commentators, but has since been widely shared on social media.
Hamilton will be hoping to make a strong start to life at Ferrari by putting on a good show at next month’s Australian Grand Prix, which will mark his competitive debut with the Italian team.
Running the rule over his display in testing, Sky Sports pundit Alex Brundle noted: “They’ve done so little running before the season starts. It’s [effectively] the first time [in Bahrain].
“A couple of runs around Fiorano is not going to give you a feel for it. It’s narrow, it’s bumpy and you just don’t get enough mileage. It’s going to be really interesting to see that Ferrari progress.
“An entirely new front suspension setup for Hamilton and everything that goes with that will take all of his experience to get his head around this year.
“It’s going to be fascinating to see an entirely motivated and energised Lewis move that car forward through these three days and then into the beginning of this season. I really can’t wait.”
Before the start of the session, Hamilton risked injuring himself by jumping off the back of a moving buggy which was travelling around the paddock.
He just about managed to keep his balance and tried to brush off the stunt as he walked back towards the Ferrari garage, chucking to himself before admitting: “That was close.”
