Lewis Hamilton is a Scuderia Ferrari driver

Lewis Hamilton admits to ‘definitely finding the limits’ in Ferrari TPC tests

Hamilton’s latest Ferrari outing sees him return to the venue of his test debut for the Italian team, having completed 30 laps at Fiorano with the 2023 car last month.

After his maiden Ferrari outing, Hamilton’s pre-season preparations suffered a setback a week later when he crashed heavily during the Scuderia’s second TPC [Testing of Previous Car] test of the winter at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The damage to the car, and the lengthy repair work required, meant Leclerc was unable to take to the track as planned later that day.

With no images or footage available of the incident in the final sector of the lap, and Ferrari opting against releasing an official report of the private test, Hamilton’s crash has been shrouded in mystery.

Various theories over recent weeks have suggested that a bump on the track surface may have caused Hamilton to lose control, with former F1 driver David Coulthard claiming Hamilton’s inexperience with the Ferrari engine played a part in the accident.

Hamilton himself decided against addressing the incident at the time, instead posting a series of images from the Barcelona test to social media 24 hours later with the accompanying caption: “First race can’t come soon enough.”

At the launch of the SF-25, however, Hamilton hinted that he was simply exploring “the limits” of his new machinery prior to the accident.

He said: “I’ve enjoyed the testing that we’ve had.

“I’ve had to find the limits of the car as quick as possible, because I only have a handful of days – and I definitely did that!” he laughed.

“It’s just been fun. Each week has been so different.

“There’s still a long road ahead of us and a lot of challenges, for sure, but I think we’ve covered as much as we could possibly cover in the small time we’ve had so far.”

As well as driving the 2023 car, Hamilton also had a rare chance to drive a modified version of Ferrari’s 2024 car in a Pirelli tyre test earlier this month.

The ‘mule’ version of the SF-24 was aimed at simulating the performance and downforce levels of the new cars for the F1 2026 season in a bid to assist Pirelli’s development of the tyres for the sport’s new era.

Having spent recent weeks driving cars designed for other drivers, Hamilton is keen to drive a Ferrari he can call his own.

He added: “This car is going to be my car. Mine and Charles’ car.

“I’ve driven a couple of the older cars that were built for other drivers, but this one’s been built for me, and Charles, so just that alone is really, really cool.”

Speaking after Hamilton’s test crash, the renowned F1 analyst Peter Windsor claimed that the accident was a positive sign for Ferrari.

The former Williams team manager argued that Hamilton’s mistake was a reflection of his comfort in the Ferrari cockpit, claiming it was the most confident the seven-time World Champion had felt since 2022.

Windsor said: “My take is that it was actually a very, very good test for Lewis and I think all Lewis Hamilton fans can feel delighted at the way that test went.

“Yes, there was the shunt – but let’s look at the build-up to that shunt and the reasons for it.

“Nothing to do with a bump on the road or any of that stuff, it was all tied to how good Lewis felt in the car and how he’s feeling within the team. He feels great in the team.

“And that car, the 2023 Ferrari, was not the greatest of grand prix cars built by Ferrari.

“But guess what? In that car, Lewis Hamilton felt better than he’s felt certainly over the last couple of years in Formula 1 in the Mercedes – probably going back to the beginning of 2022, I would think.

“He loved the feeling of feeling the road again and actually being a part of the car and kind of being on top of the car and getting it to be a part of his DNA and what he does in a race car.

“He loved that.”

A report from Italy has claimed that Ferrari have found a massive 0.4 seconds of laptime over the winter, with the SF-25 adopting the pullrod front suspension setup used by rivals McLaren and Red Bull.