Lewis Hamilton Completes Latest Ferrari Run in Barcelona with More Track Time Planned

Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton got his second taste of Ferrari Formula 1 machinery when he completed an afternoon of running in a 2023-spec Prancing Horse at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

It came after Hamilton completed 30 laps at Ferrari’s own track Fiorano, adjacent to their Maranello base, as part of an acclimatisation programme to adjust to his new team after spending 12 seasons with Mercedes.

On Tuesday at a bright but chilly Barcelona track, the Briton took over from team mate Charles Leclerc, who did the first half of the day, with both expected to get more running at the same venue over the next two days (weather permitting) as part of a private test.

Hamilton’s focus will be to adjust to his new cockpit, including getting comfortable with the feel of the pedals and the steering wheel settings as well as starting to gel with how Ferrari operate at a race track.

His mileage will be capped, as per the regulations that state that race drivers can only be used for 1000km of running in TPC (Testing of Previous cars) running. Ahead of arriving at Barcelona, they had around 800km of that allocation remaining.

Ferrari will return to Barcelona next week, on February 4 and 5, to take part in a Pirelli 2026 tyre test alongside McLaren.

It remains unclear who will be driving the car and when, but Hamilton is expected to get more mileage in a modified 2024-spec Ferrari where the programme will be dictated by Pirelli.

Hamilton and Leclerc will get their hands on the 2025 machine for the first time when the team launch their car at Fiorano on February 19, a day after the F1 75 official season launch event at The O2.

Pre-season testing will begin seven days later in Bahrain, with Hamilton and all his rivals expected to get 1.5 days of running at the desert track.

Before then, he is set to spend more time in the simulator and with his engineers to integrate into his new surroundings as much as possible to ease the transition.

Kennedy

Kennedy

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