Scuderia Ferrari’s two-day testing session on the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona with its foremost drivers has concluded. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc accomplished a lot of the deliberate program collectively. The British driver had his first session on Tuesday afternoon, all the time driving the SF-23 single-seater. He continued the coaching he had began in Fiorano throughout his first run of the season, delving deeper into testing: braking, nook entry, and learning the ability unit controls. Within the morning, Charles Leclerc had been on monitor, focusing extra on information assortment. On Wednesday, nonetheless, Lewis Hamilton alone accomplished a number of runs.
He continued till late morning when he went off the monitor and crashed into the boundaries. It appeared that the Monegasque driver may nonetheless use his afternoon slot, as Ferrari’s mechanics believed they might restore the automobile. Nonetheless, the required repairs ended up taking longer than anticipated, significantly regarding the entrance suspension system. Lewis Hamilton apparently misplaced the rear of the automobile in Flip 14 at over 200 kilometers per hour after a snap on the entrance. The previous Mercedes driver couldn’t regain management, and automobile quantity 44 headed straight into the boundaries.
As we all know, there have been no points for the seven-time F1 world champion. Luckily unharmed, he was visibly upset by the incident. The brand new Ferrari driver was unable to finish his work, however extra importantly, the crash prevented his Maranello teammate from finishing the ultimate deliberate stint within the Ferrari. The mechanics did the whole lot attainable. Nonetheless, given the poor visibility with the solar steadily setting, Ferrari determined to desert the session. Leclerc was left with out monitor time. No massive deal, although somewhat extra information would have been helpful.
How ought to Ferrari’s exams be assessed? What conclusions could be drawn? Many have puzzled why Ferrari did a lot working whereas different groups didn’t. Nonetheless, the Maranello group did nothing irregular. It merely took benefit of the FIA’s rules on Testing of Earlier Automobiles programmes, which permit any group to cowl as much as 1,000 km through the season utilizing an older automobile with particular Pirelli-designed tires for these exams. The software program can also be regulated, and foremost drivers can not exceed 4 days of testing.
These are the principles to comply with. Ferrari aimed to make use of this FIA allowance instantly for a few causes. The primary, fairly apparent, was to speed up Lewis Hamilton’s studying curve with the Ferrari. The Briton wanted expertise—attending to know the group members higher, understanding the working methodology, and gaining technical observe with the automobile. The braking system and energy unit, in actual fact, are two components he’ll discover on the SF-25 single-seater, which will likely be formally revealed in somewhat greater than two weeks. The identical goes for sure dealing with strategies examined with the SF-23.
We mentioned it yesterday. Along with trail-braking, a method utilized by all drivers, even in junior classes, Lewis Hamilton studied the “trailing throttle.” This transfer additional stabilizes the automobile by retaining a small proportion of throttle open throughout braking. It’s a method through which Charles Leclerc is an professional. Taking a look at onboard footage from the highest groups in 2024 and analyzing telemetry, solely the Monegasque driver used it in qualifying. It’s a removed from easy maneuver to implement, and the Briton needed to observe it.
And what about Lewis Hamilton’s suggestions? What did he inform the group after these two days on monitor? The British driver is a real skilled, which means he leaves nothing to likelihood. For that reason, regardless of being very happy together with his strategy to the Italian group, he has already urged a number of operational changes to streamline work on monitor. Furthermore, whereas particulars are unknown, he has requested numerous setup modifications on the brand new automobile. Let’s not overlook that the Englishman comes from Mercedes, a group that, in its golden years, demonstrated an distinctive degree of operational precision.
A group able to maximizing each activity, by no means complacent, and all the time pushing for steady enchancment. Lewis Hamilton brings a wealth of expertise on this regard. In response to numerous well-trusted Italian information media retailers, Ferrari has welcomed his recommendation on optimizing work processes and timing with enthusiasm. This was, in spite of everything, what they anticipated from him. As for technical modifications to the brand new automobile, probably associated to the controls of the SF-25, it appears Lewis Hamilton may have his requests fulfilled within the coming weeks.
The ultimate suggestions considerations his relationship with Riccardo Adami, his race engineer. We printed a devoted article a couple of months in the past, anticipating their future collaboration, which was later confirmed with extra particulars in early January. And certainly, it appears that evidently the chemistry between Ricky and Lewis is superb—really, excellent. Each share an “obsessive” work ethic, which they are going to put into observe all through the 2025 Method 1 season. The objective? Nicely… to combat on the prime and erase that irritating zero within the championship titles column that Ferrari has carried since 2008.
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