What to expect from Hamilton's first Ferrari F1 2024 car test
Lewis Hamilton will get his first taste of Ferrari's most recent Formula 1 challenger at Barcelona this week - but the car will have a slightly unusual feel
Lewis Hamilton will get his first taste of Ferrari's most recent Formula 1 challenger at Barcelona this week - but the car will have a slightly unusual feel.
The seven-time world champion and team-mate Charles Leclerc are both down to take part in a two-day Pirelli 2026 tyre test from Tuesday that takes place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Ferrari is joining McLaren for the slick tyre test, a two-day run out that will have a different vibe to the 2023 private testing that Hamilton and Leclerc recently did - as it is an event run by Pirelli and it will be conducted with a more recent car.
The entire run plan is dictated by Pirelli, and neither Ferrari nor the drivers involved will have any detailed information in terms of what specific tyres they are testing and what they are evaluating.
The Race understands that the focus of this week's test is on evaluating the latest construction developments for the 2026 tyres as well as the three hardest compounds in the range, which are the C1, the C2, and the C3.
F1's 2026 tyres retain the current 18-inch rim size that has been used for the latest ground-effect era, but the dimensions of the front and rear tyres are being reduced.
The front tyre width is being narrowed by 25mm and the rear by 30mm. They will also be smaller in diameter, going from the current 720mm to 705-710mm.
One of the big differences of this Pirelli test, rather than the Ferrari private running that was done last week, is that it will be conducted in a modified version of the SF-24.
As part of regulations introduced last year, the FIA has agreed to let teams modify cars to help simulate the downforce and performance levels of the 2026 challengers.
This means downforce for these mules cars has been cut back by around 20% - and famously at the first 2026 mule car test that Aston Martin did last year, the DRS was kept open to help limit performance in the corners and try to mimic the future car balance.
While McLaren has opted to modify an MCL60 from 2023 for its 2026 testing - as was seen in Paul Ricard last week - Ferrari has opted to make modifications to its 2024 car.
The mule car rules are also clear that the use of such a car is not a way for teams to test actual 2026 car components, so there is no sense that this will give Hamilton and Leclerc a head start for next year.
The regulations state: "Cars must include and are limited to the minimal modifications necessary for the purpose of testing development tyres or for testing components or systems on behalf of the FIA for future championship seasons, as determined by the FIA.
"No test parts, test software or component changes will be permitted which give any sort of information to the competitor that is unrelated to the mule car test unless specifically requested by the FIA."
While the mule car will not behave exactly like the current machinery to give Hamilton any proper indication of how much Ferrari's 2024 car moved on from 2023, there will still be benefit in getting some added mileage in it.
In particular, it will allow him to further enhance his knowledge of the power unit characteristics as well as cockpit controls and procedures.
The exact driver schedule over the Tuesday and Wednesday of the test has not been confirmed yet, but it is understood that Ferrari is also going to run its SF-23 for a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) outing on Tuesday so will have both drivers out initially.
The test with Ferrari and McLaren at Barcelona is the latest in a series of outings that Pirelli has conducted for its 2026 tyres.
There was an initial slick test evaluation test last September with Aston Martin, while more recently there were wet tyre test at Magny-Cours with Mercedes in October and Alpine in November.
Last week McLaren helped out with wet tyre developments at Paul Ricard.
Following the Barcelona test, Alpine and Mercedes will conduct the next slick tyre test with one day each on February 12 and 13, before Alpine and Williams stay on after the Bahrain pre-season test for some extra 2026 evaluation.
