Revealed: The suspected cause behind Lewis Hamilton’s first Ferrari crash

Ferrari’s planned running at its TPC outing in Barcelona ended prematurely on the second day, due to a crash for Lewis Hamilton. Following on from the team’s Testing of a Previous Car (TPC) at Fiorano last week, the Scuderia set up for a three-day outing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this week, using the 2023 SF-23. After a straightforward outing at Fiorano, the Barcelona TPC event hasn’t gone quite as smoothly so far for Ferrari .

With TPC regulations changing for this year, capping race driver running to a combined total of 1,000 kilometres across a maximum of four days, Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc’s planned running came to a premature end on Wednesday as Hamilton crashed the SF-23. According to Italian publication Autoracer , the crash was “probably” caused by a bump in the third sector, leading to “severe” damage to the car. Hamilton was uninjured in the crash, but the days’ running being curtailed by the damage means a likely change of plans for the final day of the test.



With Hamilton and Leclerc moving onto the final day of their permitted TPC running, it’s reported that Ferrari will change its planned programming in order for Leclerc to gain back some of the laps lost due to Hamilton’s crash. The plan had originally been for junior driver Dino Beganovic and Ferrari sportscar star and former F1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi to look after the entire day’s running. With Hamilton’s test in Barcelona concluded, his next outing will be on February 4th and 5th for a Pirelli tyre test.

Hamilton and Leclerc will drive a ‘mule’ SF-24, which has been modified to run the new 2026 tyre constructions as Pirelli prepares for their introduction next season. McLaren will also be on hand for this test, which will also run at the Barcelona circuit. 👉 Four important tasks on Lewis Hamilton’s first Ferrari to-do list 👉 10 biggest sports deals in history: Where does Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari salary rank? The seven-time F1 World Champion has now ticked off another ‘first’ since arriving with Ferrari, getting his first crash out of the way and, unusually, it’s not the first time the British driver has crashed during a test with his new team.

In 2007, Hamilton crashed his McLaren during a test in Valencia, and in 2013, he binned his Mercedes in a test at Jerez. The TPC programme has allowed Hamilton to get to grips with Ferrari’s relatively contemporary machinery ahead of jumping into the brand-new car in late February, while the tests allow him to familiarise himself with the Scuderia’s trackside working practices and technical resources. But, unlike in previous years, the increasing use of TPC outings has resulted in the FIA introducing rule changes aimed to ensuring their purpose remains primarily on benefitting junior drivers.

This is why race drivers are only permitted four days each and a combined total of 1,000 kilometres. All teams are permitted up to 20 days of TPC running, with drivers not entered in the championship being permitted unrestricted mileage. Read Next: Revealed: Why Ferrari aren’t worried about Hamilton’s ‘perfectly normal’ crash.