Lewis Hamilton suffered a minor blip in his preparations to drive for Ferrari during the 2025 Formula 1 season after a crash during testing.
The seven-time champion had an excursion after just 30 laps of running in Ferrari’s SF-23 at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya. It’s the second track he has driven the car at after driving at Fiorano last week.
Hamilton wasn’t able to push his car to the limits on Italian soil but was given free rein to do so in Spain before crashing.
It’s a dent to their preparations ahead of the new season, with limited running permitted in any machinery before the Australian Grand Prix. Ferrari believe a bump may have caused Hamilton’s testing crash, taking some blame off the Brit’s shoulders.
Ex-boss Toto Wolff already knows why Hamilton’s testing crash doesn’t matter after the 39-year-old went on to beat Nico Rosberg in his first season at Mercedes following a similar incident.
Charles Leclerc’s Wednesday afternoon running in the car had to be scrapped after the car required repairs upon returning to the pits.
David Croft thinks Lewis Hamilton’s ‘best chance’ to win an F1 title with Ferrari is in 2025
Hamilton had been working on Ferrari’s weaknesses in Barcelona in a bid to improve processes such as their start procedure ahead of the new season.
With the field expected to be so tight in 2025, losing positions on race starts could prove to be really costly in the long run, and that is why they’re working to iron things out nice and early.
Leclerc thinks Hamilton could struggle in his first Ferrari season but his experience and skillset mean that he comes well-prepared to the gig.
READ MORE: Damon Hill has just three words for Lewis Hamilton after Ferrari crash in Barcelona
Speaking on the red carpet at the Autosport awards ceremony, David Croft mentioned that he believes 2025 may be Hamilton’s best chance to win a title with Ferrari.
“What I would say, is this might be Lewis’ best chance of an eighth world title, given the season that it could be in terms of teams won’t be throwing developments week after week after week,” he said.
“Because they’ve got 2026 to think about I do think Ferrari will be the most keen to get the most out of 2025 of the big four teams because it’s so long since they won something and they want to prove that Lewis is the right man and or Charles as well.”
Why Lewis Hamilton may lose one of his 2025 Ferrari privileges after Barcelona crash
Hamilton may lose one Ferrari privilege after crashing, with a fourth day of running at Barcelona a possibility for his team.
It won’t happen though, as it would put them above the 1,000km threshold permitted under the new TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) rule which would prevent the team from running for the rest of the season.
Their hunt to end a 17-year drivers’ and constructors’ championship drought kicks off in Melbourne and is now just seven weeks away.
| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
666 |
| 2 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
652 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
589 |
| 4 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
468 |
| 5 |
Aston Martin F1 Team |
94 |
| 6 |
Alpine F1 Team |
65 |
| 7 |
Haas F1 Team |
58 |
| 8 |
Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team |
46 |
| 9 |
Williams F1 Team |
17 |
| 10 |
Sauber F1 Team |
4 |
Both Hamilton and Leclerc have already left Spain after the crash and will have to wait until Pirelli’s tyre test next week for more time in the car.
Ferrari have told Hamilton and Leclerc to ‘earn it‘ regarding the number one driver tag for 2025, but if they battle as close as is expected, it may not even need to be used.
