Hamilton again in motion as Ferrari and McLaren full Pirelli F1 check

Lewis Hamilton was again on observe with Ferrari for the Pirelli System 1 tyre check that occurred this week at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Charles Leclerc quickest general.

As the brand new technical rules for 2026 make F1 automobiles smaller and lighter, the tyres will even be narrower – by 25 mm on the entrance and 30 mm on the rear – and have a barely smaller diameter, although wheel dimension just isn’t altering.

As a consequence, Pirelli has been testing prototypes forward of subsequent yr, with a two-day check accomplished with McLaren at Circuit Paul Ricard final week for moist and intermediate tyres, and additional two-day operating was simply accomplished in Spain.

Ferrari drivers Hamilton and Leclerc shared an SF-24, whereas on Tuesday Lando Norris was driving the MCL60 from the 2023 season, with each automobiles that includes technical variations making them nearer to the 2026 technical necessities.

This was the primary time the seven-time world champion was again on observe after his crash on the identical observe final week, which was detrimental to Ferrari’s and Leclerc’s mileage.

“This time the programme centred round growth of the slicks,” a press launch from Pirelli said. “Particularly being examined have been numerous mixtures of building and compound, the latter from the toughest finish of the vary, from the C1 to the C3, as they’re properly suited to the Spanish observe which is especially demanding on tyres.”

The three drivers accomplished no fewer than 332 laps general on Tuesday, with Norris racking up 159 laps whereas Leclerc and Hamilton lined 86 and 87 respectively. Norris was quickest, setting a 1m15.215s as his quickest lap time, adopted by Hamilton in 1m15.930s and Leclerc in 1m16.060s.

Picture by: Pirelli

Oscar Piastri took over on the wheel of the McLaren automobile on Wednesday and accomplished 152 laps, whereas Leclerc and Hamilton managed 74 every. This amounted to 300 extra laps, which means Pirelli’s engineers now have a whopping 2,943 km’s price of information to look into from the two-day check.

Leclerc was quickest general due to a 1m14.971s marker, with Piastri and Hamilton lapping in 1m15.815s and 1m16.759s respectively on Wednesday. The Pirelli press launch did level out that these lap occasions “don’t have any actual significance given the completely different work programmes”.

“It was a really helpful session, notably when it got here to offering a comparability between the assorted completely different constructions for subsequent season, in addition to experimenting with some compounds from the tougher finish of the vary,” Pirelli motorsport director Mario Isola said following the two-day check.

“The Barcelona circuit is named one of the vital demanding for the tyres when it comes to the power exerted and degradation, subsequently the data we now have gathered over these two busy days will likely be crucial for the long run growth of this technology of tyres.”

Pirelli’s 2026-spec tyre testing will resume on 13-14 February in Jerez with Alpine (two days), McLaren and Mercedes (in the future every). Bahrain will then host one other session on 2-3 March, simply after pre-season testing, with Alpine and Williams in attendance on each days.