Hamilton back in action as Ferrari and McLaren undertake Pirelli F1 test

Lewis Hamilton was back on track with Ferrari for the Pirelli Formula 1 tyre test that has been taking place this week at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the first day topped by Lando Norris.

As the new technical regulations for 2026 make F1 cars smaller and lighter, the tyres will also be narrower – by 25mm at the front and 30mm at the rear – and have a slightly smaller diameter, though wheel size is not changing.

As a consequence, Pirelli has been testing prototypes ahead of next year, with a two-day test completed with McLaren at Circuit Paul Ricard last week for wet and intermediate tyres, while further two-day running is under way in Spain.

Ferrari drivers Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have been sharing an SF-24, while Norris was driving the MCL60 from the 2023 season, with both cars featuring technical adaptations making them closer to the 2026 technical requirements.

“This time the programme centred around development of the slicks,” a press release from Pirelli stated.

“Specifically being tested were various combinations of construction and compound, the latter from the hardest end of the range, from the C1 to the C3, as they are well suited to the Spanish track which is particularly demanding on tyres.”

The three drivers completed no fewer than 332 laps overall on Tuesday, which amounts to 1,546km of data for Pirelli’s engineers, with Norris racking up 159 laps while Leclerc and Hamilton covered 86 and 87 respectively.

This was the first time the seven-time world champion was back on track after his crash on the same track last week, which was detrimental to Ferrari’s and Leclerc’s mileage.

Norris was fastest on Tuesday, setting a 1m15.215s as his quickest lap time, followed by Hamilton in 1m15.930s and Leclerc in 1m16.060s – though there obviously are no conclusions to draw from the pecking order with older cars in tyre testing.

Oscar Piastri is taking over at the wheel of the McLaren car on Wednesday, with Leclerc driving the Ferrari in the morning before handing it to Hamilton.