When information emerged on Wednesday that had the 2023 automobile in a personal check in Barcelona, the pure response was that his acclimatisation in scarlet pink wasn’t fairly going in accordance with plan.
It was a shock. However maybe it shouldn’t have been.
Right here, Hamilton has earlier. It’s an uncanny development that the British driver – considered one of ’s all-time greats – has crashed in non-public testing with a brand new workforce, a matter of weeks earlier than his first bow in recent colors.
It occurred in Valencia in 2007, testing as a rookie. Then once more six years later for , on the southern Spanish coast in Jerez. Now, in simply his third look behind the Scuderia wheel, the 40-year-old crashed into the boundaries on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
However does it really imply something? Forward of the 2025 season, The Impartial takes a take a look at these earlier crashes – and the wave of success that adopted:
McLaren, 2007
The scene was late January, on the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.
Hamilton, a matter of weeks earlier than his F1 debut and that well-known first-lap overtake on teammate world champion Fernando Alonso in Australia, was testing his 2007 MP4-22 automobile simply 10 days after its unveiling.
A GP2 champion the yr prior, with a behavior of pushing his equipment to the restrict, the 22-year-old misplaced management of his automobile on the pit straight.
At a pace of 185mph, Hamilton’s automobile spun backwards by the gravel and crashed closely right into a tyre wall. The automobile was badly broken. Hamilton’s confidence within the cockpit, nevertheless, was not.
“I’m fully nice and was acutely aware all through,” he mentioned afterwards. “Sadly with this sport, this stuff occur.”
Undeterred, what adopted was the best rookie season in trendy Components One. Hamilton got here inside a whisker of a debut F1 world championship, falling excruciatingly on the remaining hurdle as he spurned a wholesome lead on the remaining two races in China and Brazil.
A yr later, nevertheless, fortune was on his aspect as he claimed the 2008 world championship on the ultimate nook of the ultimate lap in Brazil, to the dismay of house hero Felipe Massa.
Mercedes, 2013
Six years on from his debut, Hamilton had made the monumental and surprising choice to change to Mercedes – leaving his decade-long affiliation with McLaren behind.
Doubts about his daring name had been already swirling as he took to the Mercedes W04 for his first day of testing in Jerez in early February. And simply 20 minutes in, eyebrows had been raised throughout the paddock.
Hamilton crashed out on his fifteenth lap of day one working, although this crash was at a mere 35mph into the barrier. A day earlier, Nico Rosberg’s automobile burst into flames within the German’s first check within the automobile.
Was Hamilton bothered? Probably not.
“I’m fairly relaxed about it,” he mentioned, nonchalantly, after the crash. “I have been racing for seven years, so it’s not like I’m missing in expertise.
“I will need to have been doing about 200mph or so earlier than I hit the brakes coming down the again straight. For a cut up second, it was working however then the pedal simply went straight down.
“It would not work any extra. Then I simply needed to brace for impression. As a result of I went in straight my legs took a little bit of a thump.
“It is disappointing for all of us within the workforce as a result of everybody has labored so exhausting over the winter and we did not anticipate this. However I am glad we acquired it out of the best way now so we do not have to fret about it sooner or later.”
Hamilton completed that first season for the Silver Arrows in fourth, claiming only one solitary win in Hungary, as Mercedes toiled behind Purple Bull as soon as extra.
But new hybrid engine rules in 2014 marked the beginning of the Mercedes period of dominance, with Hamilton profitable six of the subsequent eight world championships.
Ferrari, 2025
And so to the current day. Hamilton said it was one of many “finest emotions he’s ever had” when he took to the 2023 Ferrari automobile in Fiorano final week for his .
But on Wednesday, in the midst of a three-day behind-closed-doors check in Barcelona, Hamilton dumped the SF-23 into the boundaries.
Hamilton was mentioned to be “completely nice”, and might be unperturbed as he seems to be to tune in to a brand new workforce and new group of engineers.
The seven-time world champion will endure a Pirelli tyre check in Barcelona subsequent week, earlier than the official three-day pre-season check for all of the groups in Bahrain from 26-28 February. From there, the circus rolls on to the season-opener in Melbourne on 16 March.
Little has been revealed about Hamilton’s crash on Wednesday, however historical past tells us the Briton was possible seeking to search the restrict of his automobile within the comparatively low-risk environment of a personal check.
That, frankly, could be no unhealthy factor. The chilly, winter temperatures usually are not optimum for this iteration of automobiles, both, as illustrated by the complaints within the chill of Las Vegas final autumn.
Hamilton is claimed to be rejuvenated by his blockbuster transfer this winter. His dad, Anthony, mentioned final week in Maranello that his son had undergone considered one of his most intense coaching programmes within the low season.
The carrot – a record-breaking eighth world title – is genuinely potential this yr, ought to Ferrari present him with a race-winning automobile.
So in sum, Ferrari’s devoted fanbase – the tifosi – shouldn’t be downbeat by this newest improvement. In actual fact, maybe there could be extra concern if Hamilton wasn’t pushing to the restrict in testing, as he seeks one remaining hurrah within the fabled Ferrari pink.
