David Coulthard has offered a theory as to why Lewis Hamilton might have crashed during a private Ferrari Formula 1 test last week.
The British driver completed his first outing for the Scuderia in January at the team’s Fiorano circuit, as fans and media gathered from afar to witness his first appearance in red.
A week later, Hamilton was completing a behind-closed-doors TPC [Testing of Previous Cars] session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya when reports started to surface of an incident on track.
Running the 2023-spec SF-23, the 40-year-old’s accident occurred around 11am local time in the final sector and caused sizeable damage to the suspension and aero components.
Hamilton was completely unharmed but Charles Leclerc’s running was impacted as he wasn’t able to complete any running that day.
Coulthard has since provided his verdict on what caused the crash, inferring the change in engines from Mercedes to Ferrari impacted Hamilton’s ability to keep the car on track.
“I see it as simply as this,” he said on the Formula For Success podcast.
“He has to get used to the control systems in that Ferrari, the power delivery.
“They’re dealing with hybrid engines, so it’s not the natural torque acceleration of an internal combustion engine.
“Electrical energy comes in like that.
“And I suspect he’s so embedded in his mind about the Mercedes hybrid F1 engine that he was simply caught out.”
Coulthard plays down significance of Hamilton crash
Hamilton enters his 19th season in the sport as he aims to secure his eighth World Championship, a feat that he has been chasing since 2021.
A lot has been said of his ability as the seven-time World Champion enters his forties, including Martin Brundle who thinks he’s “lost an edge with age”.
However, the former Red Bull driver was keen to point out that even the greatest legends of F1 have “an off” moment from time to time.
“Much was made overnight about his recent test in Barcelona,” he said.
“He had a small off there, any small off you can call a crash.
“Going off is an occupational hazard.
“It doesn’t matter if you were the late great Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher or the current Ferrari driver, Lewis Hamilton.
“We can all have an off at any certain point.”
Hamilton and Ferrari completed its latest outing at the Pirelli tyre test at the same track in Barcelona, alongside McLaren and Oscar Piastri.
Ferrari split driving duties between Hamilton and Leclerc as the two both posted 74 laps to add to their combined 173 laps on Tuesday.
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