Lewis Hamilton Uninjured After 'Minor Crash' During Ferrari F1 Preseason Testing

Formula 1 Racing star Lewis Hamilton's move from Mercedes to Ferrari got off to a bit of a bumpy start.

During a preseason testing session in Barcelona on Wednesday, Hamilton had a minor crash, though he suffered no injuries and is reportedly "doing well." F1 journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm reported that the crash occurred when he made contact with the barriers, but the damage caused can be fixed on Wednesday.

A seven-time world champion and arguably the greatest racer in F1 history, Hamilton started his professional career with McLaren in 2007 before joining Mercedes in 2013. He signed with Ferrari last winter on a multi-year contract starting with the 2025 season.

Upon joining Ferrari, Hamilton said he was fulfilling a "childhood dream" by following in the footsteps of racing legend Michael Schumacher.

"You go to the Italian Grand Prix and you see the sea of red Ferrari fans and you can only stand in awe of that. It's a team that's not had huge success recently, since 2007, and I saw it as a huge challenge," Hamilton said at the time. "Without a doubt, even as a kid, I used to play [on games] as Michael in that car, so it definitely is a dream and I'm really, really excited about it."

According to Luke Smith of The Athletic, Hamilton visited Ferrari's factory in Maranello, Italy, last week and participated in a short test run at its Fiorano test track. His minor crash on Wednesday occurred in the team's 2023 F1 car as part of a three-day test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

F1's testing regulations allow teams to conduct 1,000km of private test running per year with their race drivers while using a car at least two years old. Smith noted that Hamilton is expected to make his first public appearance as a Ferrari driver at the F1 season launch event at The O2 on Feb. 18 before sampling his 2025 car for the first time during a short private run at Fiorano on Feb. 19.

Hamilton will get used to life as a Ferrari driver during F1's official pre-season test running in Bahrain from Feb. 26-28. He will then make his official debut for Ferrari in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 16.