Lewis Hamilton crashes Ferrari at Barcelona F1 track test | Motorsports News

Hamilton, F1’s most successful driver of all-time, had the accident while testing a 2023-specification car in Spain.

Lewis Hamilton crashed on the second day of testing a 2023 Ferrari Formula One car at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.

The seven-times world champion, who had a first test run with his new team at their Fiorano track last week and is still adapting to his new surroundings after leaving Mercedes, was unhurt in the crash on Wednesday.

The accident occurred when Hamilton lost control of his vehicle in the final part of the circuit, crashed into a barrier and damaged the suspension and bodywork, Sky Italy reported.

Hamilton, 40, is getting in some laps behind closed doors with teammate Charles Leclerc under rules that allow a limited amount of track mileage in older F1 cars.

F1 tightly restricts teams from testing current-specification cars, but the rules are looser for older models like the SF-23 that Hamilton drove on Wednesday in Spain. Official preseason testing for the new season’s cars starts in Bahrain on February 26 and will continue till February 28.

Hamilton will partner with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, who have been without a driver’s title since 2007, but hope to change that in the 2025 season, which begins with the Australian Grand Prix, scheduled from March 14 to 16.