Ferrari’s final day of running at Barcelona has progressed as normal after a crash for Lewis Hamilton interrupted its second day.

Hamilton went off and damaged the SF-23 on Wednesday morning, with the car requiring repairs but not being so substantially damaged that it prevented further running. Charles Leclerc was able to return to the track later on Wednesday, and Thursday’s final day got underway as planned at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Ferrari is running a two-year-old car for both Hamilton and Leclerc over three days this week in Spain, allowing both drivers to get up to speed and build up driving fitness during the off-season. The program is seen as particularly crucial to Hamilton following his switch from Mercedes, and while the incident on Wednesday was not ideal it is also seen as a sign of the seven-time world champion trying to explore the limits of different machinery.

Teams are limited to 1000km of testing of previous car (TPC) running with their race drivers during the season, and Hamilton and Leclerc both shared the SF-23 at Fiorano last week ahead of this three-day outing. At Fiorano the two drivers only covered a combined 131km, with Hamilton completing 30 laps and Leclerc 14 in cold conditions.

The current test in Barcelona will be followed by a two-day Pirelli tire test at the same venue next week for the Ferrari drivers, using a mule car to help the Italian manufacturer develop its new product for the 2026 regulations. McLaren is carrying out a similar test for Pirelli at present at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France.

The drivers are then expected to shake down the 2025 car following its launch at Maranello on Feb. 19, a week before the start of pre-season testing in Bahrain.


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