By Balazs Szabo on

Following their short test day at Fiorano last Wednesday, Ferrari headed to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to rack up further mileage with the two-year-old Ferrari SF-23. F1technical’s lead journalist Balázs Szabo reports on Ferrari’s on-track action.

Following his first on-track day with Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton continued to rack up more mileage today as the Scuderia is ramping up its preparation for the upcoming season.

Hamilton completed his first visit to Ferrari’s Italian headquarters last Monday when he met engineers and the staff at the Scuderia’s F1 department. The Briton then took part in photo shooting on Tuesday before performing work in the simulator.

The Briton then hit Ferrari’s own test track at Fiorano on Wednesday. Even if weather was far from ideal, the seven-time F1 champion carried out some installation laps and start practices before racking up some mileages on slick tyres to end the day with a total of 30 laps.

The 105-time F1 race winner was supported by his mother Carmen, his former trainer Angela Cullen while team boss Fred Vasseur and deputy team boss Jerome d’Amborosio also looked on.

Reflecting on his first on-track day with Ferrari, Hamilton hailed the experience as “one of the best feelings of my life”.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have many firsts in my career, from the first test to the first race, podium, win and championship, so I wasn’t sure how many more firsts I had but driving a Scuderia Ferrari HP car for the first time this morning, was one of the best feelings of my life,” Hamilton reflected afterwards.

“When I started the car up and drove through that garage door, I had the biggest smile on my face. It reminded me of the very first time I tested a Formula 1 car, it was such an exciting and special moment, and here I am, almost 20 years later, feeling those emotions all over again.

Ferrari has now headed to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to complete more running with the two-year-old SF-23 in slightly better weather conditions.

Charles Leclerc fulfilled driving duties in the morning, and Hamilton took over the 2023 F1 Ferrari in the afternoon.

The sport’s governing body, the FIA introduced a restriction for this year, limiting teams to only a total of 1000km under the rule that is referred to as Testing of Previous Cars. This allows teams to use two-year-old cars, but the new rule introduced a maximum length of 1000km and a duration of 20 days for each team while regular drivers are allowed to take part in TPC runs only on four days during a calendar year.

Ferrari are believed to continue with their on-track program on Wednesday and Thursday with the same SF-23.

The Scuderia will remain in Montmelo next week to take part in the Pirelli tyre test. That running will see McLaren also join Ferrari at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya where Pirelli will try out its 2026 products.

The tyre test will mark the first time that Hamilton drives the 2024 F1 Ferrari, the SF-24 as teams are allowed to use their most actual cars during tyre testing.

The 2026-spec tyres will continue to feature 18-inch rims, but the front tyres will be 25mm narrower while the rears will be reduced by 30mm in width compared to the 2025 tyres.


GP Brazilprevious