Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has thumped team-mate Charles Leclerc in a private Ferrari test in Barcelona, it has been claimed.
Hamilton has joined Ferrari ahead of the 2025 season having signed a multi-year deal with the team, with himself and Leclerc set to lead the Scuderia for the foreseeable future.
The new team-mates underwent their test days in Barcelona last week, where they took to the track in the SF-23 as part of F1's testing of previous cars (TPC) program.
However, the second day of testing was cut short when Hamilton crashed, and whilst the seven-time world champion was unharmed, there was extensive damage to the Ferrari which he shared with Leclerc.
As the team underwent repairs on the car, Leclerc’s tests for the rest of the day were scrapped and he did not take to the track again, with the third day of running reserved for reserve and junior drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Dino Beganovic.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton took to the track together as team-matesLewis Hamilton crashed during his test in the SF-23
While Hamilton’s Barcelona test took place behind closed doors, former F1 manager Peter Windsor has unveiled the details from testing and claimed that Hamilton came out on top ahead of his team-mate.
However, Windsor reminded viewers that Hamilton completed more miles than Leclerc, but still pondered the impact this could have on their rivalry.
“Hamilton pushed the car to the limit and enjoyed himself. It will be interesting to see how Leclerc performs alongside Lewis,” Windsor said on his latest YouTube video.
“Obviously Lewis was quicker in terms of the lap times on this test and he did a lot more miles. For me, it’s a question of how Charles Leclerc will react now. It would have been a kind of ‘welcome to Ferrari’ thing when Lewis hit the wall.
“But there’s no doubt that Lewis is already super quick and doing a great job in the car. So for me it will be a question of how Charles manages his emotions now because he’s got to be ready for Lewis, potentially just through circumstances, maybe a very good start to the year and how Charles reacts to that.
“I still think over a year, a 24-race championship, Charles is the guy most likely to win a championship for Ferrari if it’s a championship-winning car. He has the potential to do that.”