Lewis Hamilton suffered his first crash behind the wheel of a Ferrari during a private test at Barcelona this week.
The seven-time world champion was unhurt in the accident and the car suffered damage to the front wing and suspension, following contact with the barriers.
Hamilton was driving the SF-23 from the 2023 season when he crashed, which was known for being a car that was tough to drive for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Much of Ferrari’s 2024 season was spent trying to make their car more drivable, after they suffered badly from ‘aero peakiness’ in 2023 which made the car unpredictable.
Hamilton will have likely got a similar taste of what they had to deal with after Ferrari wanted him to push the limits of the car outside of any media coverage or spectators. It is also not the first time Hamilton has crashed during a debut test with a new team, having suffered a similar fate with Mercedes in 2013.
When Lewis Hamilton crashed during his Mercedes testing debut in 2013
Hamilton crashed during the first day of testing for Mercedes in 2013 after just 15 laps, after a braking problem caused him to lose control at high speed.
The seven-time world champion was testing at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain, when he lost rear brake pressure and ploughed across the gravel trap and into the barriers.
Flames came out of the back of the car as unburnt fuel sat in the exhausts, although Hamilton managed to escape unscathed in the incident. Mercedes traced the problem back to a hydraulic brake line connecting to the right-rear calliper.
While it was a setback on his first days with the team, Hamilton went on to produce one of his better seasons with the team following a difficult final year at McLaren.
Lewis Hamilton beats Nico Rosberg in first year as teammates
There was a lot of anticipation for Hamilton at Mercedes, given he made the move while McLaren was still building race-winning cars.
Mercedes had also produced a race-winner in 2012, but were never at the same level of competitiveness as rivals Red Bull or Ferrari. This would all change in 2014 when the hybrid era started, but Hamilton still had to prove himself at the Silver Arrows.
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In his first year at Mercedes, Hamilton managed to achieve five podium finishes including one race win at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix.
After scoring 189 points he finished fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, which was 18 points ahead of Rosberg who was sixth in the championship.
Toto Wolff might be looking on at Hamilton’s Ferrari crash today, but he will be all too aware that such a setback will likely not impact his former driver as he embarks on a new chapter in his career.
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