Ferrari have added a second private test session to Lewis Hamilton’s pre-season schedule for F1 2025, it has been claimed, with an extra outing planned in Barcelona in late January.
It comes after F1’s governing body the FIA announced a key rule change for the F1 2025 season, partly inspired by Red Bull and Max Verstappen according to a report.
Rumour: Lewis Hamilton set for second private Ferrari test in Barcelona
Hamilton has officially joined Ferrari ahead of the new season following the expiry of his Mercedes contract on December 31 2024.
The seven-time World Champion’s move to Maranello has been almost a year in the making, with Hamilton announcing last February that he would join Ferrari on a multi-year contract from F1 2025.
After a short winter break, which will see Hamilton celebrate his 40th birthday on January 7, the British driver is expected to link up with his new employers later this month.
Hamilton is expected to receive his first taste of Ferrari machinery at the team’s Fiorano test track later this month, with the team yet to decide whether to use the 2022 car, the F1-75, or the 2023 chassis for Hamilton’s introductory outing.
Ferrari have traditionally held a so-called ‘wake-up’ test across two days at Fiorano in January, allowing team and drivers to get back up to speed ahead of official pre-season running in February.
This year’s Fiorano test is set to be held in the week commencing January 20, with reports last month claiming Ferrari have drawn up plans to move the run to Mugello or Imola in the event of bad weather.
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A report by the Italian edition of Motorsport.com has claimed that Ferrari have added an extra January test to Hamilton’s winter schedule, with the team planning a second outing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the home of F1’s Spanish Grand Prix, at the end of this month.
It is said that Ferrari have booked a window of four days at the Barcelona circuit for late January, giving the team crucial flexibility to conduct two crucial days of on-track running.
It comes after a rule change announced by the FIA last month, allowing drivers participating in the World Championship to conduct 1,000 kilometres of TPC running per year across a maximum of four different test days.
The rules are relaxed for drivers not competing in F1, with 20 TPC days available with no mileage limit.
The adjustment to the sporting regulations was made for F1 2025 after some F1 teams were perceived to be going against the spirit of the rules by holding TPC tests with active drivers last year.
Verstappen’s test at Imola behind the wheel of Red Bull’s 2022 car last June has been cited as a key example, with TPC tests originally intended to offer mileage to young drivers.
It means Hamilton will have a total of four track days spread across the Fiorano and Barcelona tests to familiarise himself with his new team before the start of F1’s official three-day test in Bahrain scheduled for February 26-28.
The news comes after it emerged that the cockpit of the Ferrari has been moved further back for F1 2025 as the team prepare to welcome Hamilton.
Cockpit positioning proved a major irritation for Hamilton during his penultimate season with Mercedes in 2023, with the seven-time World Champion complaining that he was sat too close to the front wheels.
Development of Ferrari’s F1 2025 car – codenamed Project 677 – is being led by new chassis technical director Loic Serra, who worked closely with Hamilton at Mercedes until last year and is believed to have shared the driver’s doubts over the zero-pod design concept pursued by the Brackley-based team in 2022/23.
