Lewis Hamilton says his first race as a Ferrari driver “can’t come soon enough” with the Briton’s pre-season run in a 2023 SF-23 curtailed when he crashed in testing.

Hamilton’s new career path as a Ferrari Formula 1 driver began in earnest last week when the Briton spent time at the team’s Maranello headquarters before climbing into the cockpit of an SF-23 for 30 laps of the Fiorano circuit.

Lewis Hamilton’s Barcelona warm-up was undone by a crash

He was back in action this week, alternating sessions with his new team-mate Charles Leclerc at the Barcelona circuit. However, their running was cut short when Hamilton crashed on Wednesday morning.

The Briton reportedly lost control of the SF-23 because of a ‘bump’ at Turn 12, leaving the track and crashing into the barriers.

While the driver was “absolutely fine” and Ferrari said the crash was “perfectly normal” as new signing Hamilton looked to “test and find the limits of his new equipment”, the car suffered suspension and bodywork damage.

So much so, motors-addict.com reports Ferrari ‘urgently sent’ a ‘specialist composites technician’ to Barcelona in order to ‘better assess’ the damage to the car.

The crash meant Leclerc wasn’t able to run during the afternoon session, however, reserve drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Degan Beganovic were on track for the third and final day at the Spanish circuit.

It’s not the first time Hamilton has crashed in his pre-season preparations, doing so in 2007 with McLaren and again in 2013 with Mercedes.

The seven-time World Champion shrugged it off as he posted a series of photographs on social media with the words: “First race can’t come soon enough.”

Hamilton will be back behind the wheel of a Ferrari Formula 1 car next week in a ‘mule’ version of last year’s SF-24.

Both the Briton and Leclerc are scheduled to be in action at the Circuit de Catalunya where Ferrari will join McLaren in assisting Pirelli in their 2026 tyre preparations.

According to respected Italian journalist Rosario Giuliana, Ferrari will run an “unprecedented” set-up at the Spanish track, one more suited for Monza’s minimal downforce characteristics.

“Ferrari for the Pirelli test will run in Spain with a ‘Monza-style configuration’,” Giuliana revealed on X. “An unprecedented set-up for a circuit like Montmelò, which in normal conditions requires very ‘large’ wings.

“McLaren has already experimented with this set-up at Paul Ricard, to simulate the lower downforce that the 2026 cars will have, which will have a downforce comparable to that of the 2024 cars in the Monza version.

“The mule cars are also running lightened, to simulate the -30kg that next year’s cars will have.”

After that, the 40-year-old’s next run will be when Ferrari shakedown the 2025 car, the SF-25, before heading to Bahrain for three days of pre-season testing from 26 to 28 February.

His first race as a Ferrari driver takes place in Australia, the season-opening race weekend beginning on 14 March with FP1.