Update on Lewis Hamilton after he crashed Ferrari at Barcelona test

Lewis Hamilton was unscathed and Ferrari are not concerned after his crash in Barcelona.

Hamilton lost control of his Ferrari on Wednesday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, in his third overall day of driving for his new F1 team.

But he was unhurt by the incident, which has now been described as a “minor crash” by Sky Sports.

Craig Slater reported: “He was described as absolutely fine afterwards, by a senior Ferrari source.

“But the car had to be recovered, and taken back to the pits, for repairs.

“As it’s been explained to me, by a senior Ferrari source, this is perfectly normal for this time of year, particularly for someone like Hamilton who is looking to find the limit of his new equipment.”

Lewis Hamilton crashes Ferrari

Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023 Ferrari on Wednesday, as per the TPC [Testing of Previous Car] rules which insists a car at least two years old must be used outside of official F1 testing.

Hamilton was due to drive in the morning, with teammate Charles Leclerc taking over in the afternoon.

But after Hamilton’s session was curtailed by his crash, Leclerc was unable to head out at all.

The original plan for Thursday - the final day of Ferrari’s three-day test in Barcelona - was to hand over driving duties to a duo of test drivers.

Antonio Giovinazzi and Dino Beganovic are the names who will reportedly take over.

But given Hamilton’s running was shortened, and Leclerc’s didn’t take place at all, it remains to be seen if Ferrari opt to change their plans to give their two star drivers some more mileage.

F1 insiders have been keen to point out that although Hamilton’s crash on Wednesday was unexpected, it might be a natural consequence of a driver in a new car seeking to quickly find its limit.

Hamilton, after all, has prior experience of crashing the F1 car of his brand new team.

At both McLaren and Mercedes, he was involved in preseason testing incidents.

He lost control of the McLaren MP4-22 in early-2007 in Valencia, then shunted his Mercedes on his 15th lap for his new team in early-2013.

Neither of those alliances went badly for the record-setting Hamilton who will hope Wednesday’s crash was a forgettable blemish on his next great adventure.