Lewis Hamilton is back on track for Ferrari at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, home of the Spanish Grand Prix. It’s his second test for his new team after his outing at Fiorano last week.
Hamilton only completed around 90km at Fiorano, with running limited by the weather on a cold, misty and damp day. But all being well, he will log far more significant mileage in Barcelona.
The seven-time F1 world champion is once again driving the two-year-old Ferrari SF-23. Teammate Charles Leclerc is in attendance too.
Each driver will have different objectives. Hamilton is trying to adapt to the team’s processes on and off-track and build a working relationship with his engineers, while Leclerc is predominantly rebuilding his sharpness.
It was the Monegasque who took to the track first on Tuesday, though the order will swap for Wednesday. Ferrari have a maximum TPC allocation of 1,000km across four days for their full-time drivers.
They will return to Barcelona in early February for a Pirelli tyre test. That will be Hamilton’s first chance to sample the 2024 car, albeit with adjustments to simulate 2026-level downforce.
Ferrari conducting preparation lap experiments with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc
In addition to shaking off any rust, Leclerc is also helping his team conduct experiments for the new season. One of these concerns tyre management.
Under the rules, Ferrari are only allowed to use Pirelli’s ‘Academy’ rubber, which differs from the range they’ll use during race weekends. But clearly, the team still feel they can gather important data.
According to Motorsport Italy, Leclerc and Hamilton will be adopting different strategies across multiple preparation laps. They’ll compare the performance of the tyres at various temperatures and pressures.
Ferrari want to find the approach that delivers both grip and longevity in a subsequent stint. This will be doubly beneficial.
What Mercedes privately said to Lewis Hamilton about tyre management last season
In terms of qualifying, 2024 was Hamilton’s poorest F1 season to date. Mercedes teammate George Russell thrashed him 19-5 in the intra-team battle, with an average deficit of around 0.170s.
The veteran simply claimed at one point that he wasn’t ‘fast anymore’, but his engineers didn’t share that view. They felt there was a more specific reason for his woes.
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Indeed, Mercedes privately told Hamilton he was pushing too hard on a Saturday. He needed to drive at ‘99.9%’ to avoid overexerting the tyres.
While nominally in the interests of Ferrari as a whole, Hamilton’s tyre work in Barcelona will surely help him ahead of the new season. He could discover a new approach that allows him to keep up with Leclerc, arguably F1’s fastest driver over one lap.
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