Lewis Hamilton had his Ferrari engineers make several adjustments following his initial on-track running with the famed Formula 1 Italian giants.
Maranello was buzzing last week with frantic Tifosi scurrying to the Ferrari Fiorano test circuit on Wednesday, keen to catch a glimpse of Hamilton’s initial laps in the SF-23.
Hamilton completed 89km, equivalent to roughly 30 laps of Fiorano as he seeks to acclimatise to his new F1 surroundings.
The seven-time F1 champion found the Ferrari pedals difficult to attune with last week and according to the Italian publication AutoRacer, it “required a lot of work” to resolve.
Hamilton and his engineers allegedly experimented with several setups during his laps at Fiorano but were unable to find a solution out on track.
It is believed that since the running, Ferrari has found a suitable fix.
How Hamilton’s initial Ferrari laps went
Following his initial laps on track in a Ferrari F1 machine, the Scuderia released a statement, saying: “Today at 9.16, an SF-23 bearing the number 44, left the garage for the first time, for a single installation lap on rain tyres, under the watchful eye of Team Principal Fred Vasseur and his deputy Jerome d’Ambrosio.
“Members of Lewis’ family were also there and were clearly excited.
“Once back in the pits, the Englishman stayed in the car, speaking to his race engineer Riccardo Adami over the radio.
“Then, with Vice President Piero Ferrari having also arrived to watch the action, the test really got underway, with Lewis going out on slick tyres, doing flying laps, while also attempting some practice starts as he got to grips with all the systems on the car.
“Following the post-session debrief with the engineers, Lewis went out to the corner where the fans were gathered to say hello and thank them for their warm welcome over his first few days as a “ferrarista.”
Ferrari can test Hamilton solutions this week
Ferrari has another opportunity to get Hamilton up and running in Barcelona this week.
The Scuderia has booked three days of running at the Spanish Grand Prix venue from January 28-30.
This will continue Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc’s TPC [Testing of Previous Car] programme ahead of the 2025 campaign.
TPC regulations permit full-time race drivers up to 1000km of running in a two-year-old F1 car.
The Barcelona running will confirm whether Ferrari has solved Hamilton’s pedal problem before he goes on to participate in a 2026 Pirelli tyre test in a modified SF-24 in February.
Next up will be the 2025 livery launch at F1 75 on February 18 before Ferrari unveils its new car a day later back in Maranello.
Hamilton and Leclerc will then share the 2025 Ferrari challenger during the official pre-season test in Bahrain on February 26-28.
As well as on-track testing, Ferrari has been putting Hamilton through his paces in the simulator.
The 40-year-old Briton has already conducted miles in the end-of-year spec SF-24 in the simulator.
Sources claimed to La Gazzetta dello Sport that Ferrari ran “different configurations and adjustments” to “erase” Hamilton’s memory of the Mercedes simulator.
This included running Hamilton through several suspension calibrations, engine maps and load levels.
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc pose in new Ferrari 2025 F1 race suits
