Revealed: Lewis Hamilton’s lap time on Ferrari F1 test debut
Info about Lewis Hamilton's maiden F1 test outing with Ferrari on Wednesday.
Lewis Hamilton completed his high-profile track debut as a Ferrari F1 driver on Wednesday.
The seven-time world champion tested Ferrari’s 2023 F1 car at the team’s Fiorano test track to help with his acclimatisation with his new team.
He was timed at exactly one minute per lap, according to AutoRacer. His lap time was influenced by small mistakes, and by the cold weather, the report claims.
Hamilton emerged for the first time at 9:16am local time (8:16 GMT) as he made his way out onto a damp track in foggy conditions for an installation lap.
The 40-year-old Briton covered about 30 laps over four runs throughout the morning, completing around 100km of the 1000km maximum allowance current drivers can conduct for their teams under F1’s Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) restrictions.
Lewis Hamilton's first laps in a Ferrari
Hamilton first sampled wet versions of Pirelli’s non-race weekend ‘Academy’ tyres, before later switching onto slicks for his final run which consisted of about five laps.
A lack of grip was evident as Hamilton had several small lock-ups and ran wide on one of his laps during his initial 10-lap run.
Hamilton’s running was complete by shortly after 11:00 local time (10:00 GMT) as weather conditions worsened.
New teammate Charles Leclerc took over behind the wheel of the SF-23 for some wet running in the afternoon, before thrilling the loyal tifosi with some donuts.
During the lunch break, Hamilton went over to greet the fans who had braved the cold, murky conditions to line the circuit’s perimeter fencing to catch a first glimpse of their new hero and Ferrari’s star signing.
Sky Sports News reporter Craig Slater was on the ground and claimed “thousands” of tifosi were attending the test which officially took place behind closed doors.
Such was the fanfare surrounding Hamilton’s first week at Ferrari, which kicked off with a visit to the team’s famous Maranello headquarters on Monday, a ‘sate of emergency’ was reportedly triggered in the region.
Wednesday's initial test will have provided Hamilton with some early learning about Ferrari’s F1 cars, as well as giving him the chance to experience how the Ferrari engine operates.
Until today, Hamilton had only driven Mercedes engines throughout his 18-year F1 career.
The day will have also allowed Hamilton to get up to speed the team’s working practices and build a rapport with new race engineer Riccardo Adami.
Hamilton will be permitted to complete around another 900km of running in older Ferrari F1 cars. It is understood that Ferrari have booked out the Barcelona circuit for another TPC outing for Hamilton at the end of this month.
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