LEWIS HAMILTON'S TESTS CONTINUE IN BARCELONA

Lewis Hamilton will continue to get to grips with life as a Ferrari driver during a private test session for him and teammate Charles Leclerc in Barcelona this week.

Ferrari has booked the Circuit de Catalunya, host of the Spanish Grand Prix, for three days in a test running from Jan. 28-30.

On Tuesday, Ferrari shared an image of Leclerc driving out of the garage in the SF-23 car, used in the 2023 season.

Hamilton and Leclerc will rotate duties through the test, although Ferrari did not confirm the specifics of the schedule as it is subject to change.

F1's "Testing of Previous Car" [TPC] rules limit current race drivers to 1000km of running in old F1 cars over the year.

Under TPC, Hamilton completed 30 laps (89 km) of Ferrari's test track at Fiorano last Wednesday in the same car, as part of his highly anticipated debut with the Italian team.

This week Ferrari released imagery of Hamilton in Ferrari race suits for the first time.

The seven-time world champion's move to Ferrari has dominated F1 headlines so far this offseason.

He and Leclerc will take part in a Pirelli tyre test at the Barcelona circuit on Feb. 4-5, using a modified 2024 'mule' car.

Lewis Hamilton first drove the SF-23 car at Fiorano last week. Clive Rose/Getty Images

Although F1's regulations severely limit testing, Ferrari has made sure it has given Hamilton as much track time as possible.

Hamilton will get his first feel for Ferrari's 2025 car on Feb. 19, when Ferrari officially launches its car. Hamilton and Leclerc are expected to complete laps of the Fiorano track in the new challenger, weather permitting.

The following week, Ferrari and the other nine F1 teams will take part in three days of preseason testing in Bahrain from Feb. 26-28, before heading to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix on March 16.

Speaking of his first laps in a Ferrari at Fiorano last week, Hamilton said: "When I started the car up and drove through that garage door, I had the biggest smile on my face.

"It reminded me of the very first time I tested a Formula 1 car. It was such an exciting and special moment, and here I am, almost 20 years later, feeling those emotions all over again.

"I already knew from the outside how passionate the Ferrari family is, from everyone in the team to the tifosi [fans]. But to now witness it first hand as a Ferrari driver has been awe-inspiring.

"That passion runs through their veins and you can't help but be energised by it. I'm so grateful for the love I have felt from everyone in Maranello this week, we have a lot of work to do but I can't wait to get started."

- Nate Saunders

CARLOS SAINZ SR STUNNED BY FERRARI ACTIONS AFTER LEWIS HAMILTON FORCED HIS SON OUT OF THE F1 TEAM

Clive Rose/Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton started his new life as a Ferrari driver in a record-breaking fashion on his first day at Fiorano having replaced Carlos Sainz Jr for the 2025 Formula 1 season.

The move for Hamilton to replace Sainz Jr at Ferrari was a long time coming as the 40-year-old agreed to leave Mercedes for the Maranello giants last February. His first day dressed in red then finally occurred on Wednesday as Hamilton enjoyed 30 laps of Fiorano in an SF-23.

Fog hung over Ferrari’s legendary Fiorano test track as Hamilton got to grips with their 2023 car. More importantly, it gave the Briton the chance to experience the Scuderia’s power unit for the first time in his Formula 1 career plus the mechanics he will now work closely beside.

Ferrari impress Carlos Sainz Sr with parting gifts for Carlos Sainz Jr

Even before he hit Fiorano with the Prancing Horse on his car, Hamilton broke the record for the most-liked F1 picture with his first snap as a Ferrari driver stood outside of Enzo Ferrari’s house at the Scuderia’s Maranello factory. But to get Hamilton, Ferrari had to let Sainz Jr go.

Sainz Jr will race for Williams in 2025 after signing a multi-year contract with the Grove crew to remain on the Formula 1 grid after Hamilton stole his Ferrari seat with his own multi-year deal. Yet Carlos Sainz Sr does not hold any bad blood with Ferrari for not keeping his son on.

Instead, Sainz Sr has praised Ferrari for how they dealt with Sainz Jr’s departure from the F1 team. The rally icon also claims that it was Hamilton who sought out Sainz Jr’s drive and left Ferrari with having to let a driver they were happy with leave to get a seven-time champion.

“I wouldn’t describe it as the Scuderia behaving badly,” Sainz Sr has explained on El Cafelito. “The circumstances of the perfect storm have arisen. Ferrari were happy with Carlos but the possibility appeared because Hamilton himself produced it.

“It is he who approached Ferrari, then the circumstances arose. Perhaps that process could have been clearer, but then it would have been leaked and Ferrari did not want it to be.

“But then they had a fantastic detail with [Sainz Jr], a gesture that they have not had with practically any driver in their history, which is the farewell. They gave him a car, they invited me to drive in Fiorano with a Formula 1 [car].”

Ferrari gifted Carlos Sainz Jr his 2022 British Grand Prix-winning F1-75 car

Ferrari gave Sainz Jr his F1-75 with which the Spaniard won his maiden Formula 1 race at the 2022 British Grand Prix at Silverstone following his departure to make way for Hamilton. The Scuderia also allowed Sainz Sr to drive an F1-75 at Fiorano as Ferrari bid farewell to Sainz Jr.

It was a touching tribute and a sign of the respect towards Sainz Jr that Sainz Sr says Ferrari still hold for his son, despite opting against renewing his contract past the 2024 season to sign Hamilton. Although, nowadays, it is not necessarily the rare act that Sainz Sr claims it is.

Ferrari also gave Kimi Raikkonen his SF71H with which he won the 2018 United States Grand Prix with after the Finn retired from Formula 1. Like Sainz receiving his first race-winning car, the 2018 US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas marked Raikkonen’s last of 21 F1 wins.

- Kyle Archer

LEWIS HAMILTON SAYS DRIVING A FERRARI F1 CAR FOR FIRST TIME WAS 'EXCITING AND SPECIAL'

Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team's Fiorano test track and wore a new helmet design in yellow with a prominent Prancing Horse logo

British driver Lewis Hamilton waves to fans as he steers a Ferrari Formula One SF-23 at the Ferrari private test track, in Fiorano Modenese, Italy, Wednesday, Jan.22, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
 

Lewis Hamilton drove a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time Wednesday and described it as “one of the best feelings of my life.”

Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track and wore a new helmet design in yellow with a prominent Prancing Horse logo.

The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators, who had gathered on a nearby bridge despite the cold and wet weather.

“When I started the car up and drove through that garage door, I had the biggest smile on my face,” Hamilton said of his first drive in a Ferrari since joining the Italian team for the 2025 season. “It reminded me of the very first time I tested a Formula 1 car, it was such an exciting and special moment, and here I am, almost 20 years later, feeling those emotions all over again.” Part-way through the day, Hamilton headed over to fans who had waited for hours in the wet conditions since early morning for a glimpse of him behind the wheel.

Wearing a jacket in Ferrari red, he waved, gave a thumbs-up gesture and put a hand to his heart. Hamilton’s mother was among his family members on hand for the occasion.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have many firsts in my career, from the first test to the first race, podium, win and championship, so I wasn’t sure how many more firsts I had but driving a Scuderia Ferrari HP car for the first time this morning, was one of the best feelings of my life,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton has shaken up F1 with his move to Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes, where he won six of his seven world titles.

There was excitement Wednesday from one of Italy’s biggest sports stars, too.

After reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner was asked by an Italian reporter if he had seen anything on social media about Hamilton’s Ferrari debut.

“It’s still pretty strange to see him in red,” Sinner said, “but it’ll be a great season.” Hamilton, who arrived Monday at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters for his first day at work with the new team, has said he’s fulfilling a childhood dream.

“I already knew from the outside how passionate the Ferrari family is, from everyone in the team to the tifosi (fans),” he said. “But to now witness it firsthand as a Ferrari driver has been awe-inspiring. That passion runs through their veins and you can’t help but be energized by it.” F1 tightly restricts teams from testing current-specification cars but the rules are more loose for older cars like the SF-23 that Hamilton drove Wednesday. The F1 regulations for 2025 allow Hamilton to drive up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) over four days in older F1 cars under the “testing of previous cars” rule. The SF-23 is the most recent Ferrari that’s eligible.

- AP

INTRODUCING THE SCUDERIA SF-23 | F1 FERRARI