Lewis Hamilton Kicks Off Ferrari’s Preseason Testing with Optimism
Lewis Hamilton sounded positive about his first day of preseason testing for Ferrari, calling it an “intense but productive” start to the 2026 season. Ferrari made their debut at F1’s private Barcelona ‘Shakedown Week’ at the Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday, where teams are limited to running on three of the five available days.
Charles Leclerc and Hamilton alternated duties either side of the lunch break in a day marked by various spells of rain. Leclerc completed 64 laps before Hamilton added 57 in the afternoon, a healthy haul of 560 kilometres to kick off the preseason slate of tests for the Italian team.
“It was an intense but productive first day, especially with the mixed weather conditions,” Hamilton said. “We managed to get good mileage on the car and gather a lot of useful information, which is important with such a big regulation change. There were no major issues and that gives us a solid foundation to keep learning and building over the next days.”
Hamilton’s Debut Season with Ferrari
Hamilton had a disappointing debut season in 2025 and failed to win a grand prix, although he did claim sprint pole and victory in China early in the year. The seven-time world champion has seemed in much better spirits already since the team’s launch last week, which also featured some installation laps at the company’s Fiorano test track.
Ferrari’s Testing Schedule
Ferrari will be able to run at two of the remaining three days this week in Barcelona. Sources have told ESPN that the intermittent rain affected the run plan of both Ferrari and Red Bull, the only two teams to hit the track on Tuesday, a day marked by lots of shorter stints on track.
Leclerc completed 12 of his laps on the medium dry tyre, otherwise every lap Ferrari completed was on either the intermediate or full wet. “Very challenging today, because it started raining at 10.30 a.m. — obviously Charles had a little bit of dry running then it’s been wet all afternoon,” Hamilton added to F1 ITV.
“Figuring out how to get the tyres working was really productive. I think we got 120 laps or something like that. Given it’s in the wet conditions and we had a red flag, I think that’s pretty solid, so I’m really proud of everyone back at the factory for getting the car to this point. We got a lot of information on the car today — we definitely need to keep it up, [there’s] lots and lots to do, but a good first day.”
2026 Season Expectations
Ferrari had a winless 2025 season but is hoping to propel itself back into title contention this year. Leclerc also sounded positive about the start. Speaking to F1 TV after finishing his own stint, Leclerc said: “I’m very excited. I’m very excited to see what the others have in store and when we start pushing a little bit more, see where we are compared to the others.”
“I think this year is a big opportunity for every team to do something different and to maybe gain bigger advantage than what we’ve seen in the last few years. I hope we are the team that will manage to make the difference. But wherever we start, we will push at the maximum to try and bring Ferrari back to the top. It’s been quite a few years, so I hope that this one is ours.”
