Lewis Hamilton hits barrier in Ferrari testing crash as repairs needed
Lewis Hamilton has suffered a ‘minor’ crash in his second outing as a Ferrari driver.
The seven-time world champion was taking part in a private test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya when he was said to have hit a barrier in the final sector.
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The 40-year-old, who signed from Mercedes in a blockbuster deal, was driving Ferrari’s 2023 car alongside teammate Charles Leclerc.
The pair had already had one outing at the team’s test track in Fiorano, Italy, with hundreds turning up to get a glimpse of Formula 1’s most successful driver.
This three day test is behind closed doors, but Sky Sports claim Hamilton had a minor crash, going off track and into the barriers, with Ferrari calling it a ‘normal testing incident’.
RacingNews365 further claim that the car sustained damage to its suspension and aerodynamics and required repairs.
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Hamilton is in the process of swapping teams for just the second time in his storied career, having spent the previous 12 years at Mercedes.
The 2023 car is seen as a good bridge to get up to scratch with a whole new machine, having fallen out spectacularly with Mercedes’ 2024 challenger, calling it the worst car he’d ever driven.
The Brit will return to the Barcelona tack on Thursday and then have his first go in the 2025 challenger on February 19, a day after a launch event in London.
Pre-season testing then begins in Bahrain from February 26 to 28, and the season then officially gets underway in Australia with free practice on March 14.
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Before then there’s also a Pirelli tyre test which Ferrari and McLaren are taking part in with their 2024 cars, although it’s unclear whether Hamilton will be driving that day.
Hamilton's last team change saw him swap McLaren for Mercedes in 2013 and it turned out to be inspired.
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Having won his first world title in 2008, he failed to finish higher than fourth in the standings with McLaren for the following four seasons, and did the same in his first term with Mercedes.
However, anticipating the team nailing the 2014 rule changes, those hopes came to fruition in spectacular circumstances as he would win six of the next seven championships and take home records for wins and pole positions.
Red Bull finally caught up in 2021 and ended the Mercedes era, and it's never been quite the same since.
The German manufacture botched the 2022 aerodynamic rule changes, seeing Hamilton complete a winless season for the first time in his career before doing the same again in 2023.
He did, however, claim a pair of victories last season, but that was after he'd already penned his future to Ferrari.
The Italian squad have finished ahead of Mercedes in two of the last three seasons, and there is renewed hope that with the field closing and Red Bull seemingly going backwards, Hamilton could win his record-breaking eighth title in red.
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