Lewis Hamilton has made it clear that his enthusiasm has not been dampened by his testing crash this week. While driving one of Ferrari's older cars at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this week, the Brit lost control and buried the red racing machine into a barrier. He was unhurt but the incident caused significant damage to the car. It meant that would be the last of his running during the three-day test in Spain. And it was also bad news for team-mate Charles Leclerc who never got out on track at all because visibility was too poor by the time mechanics had finished putting the car back together.

But the incident itself is no cause for alarm as testing crashes are not uncommon. And reports from Italy have absolved the seven-time champion of blame, suggesting that a bump on the track unsettle the car and caused it to spin out of control. A crash is never fun for a driver, but Hamilton is still very excited for his competitive debut for Ferrari which creeps ever closer. Posting some photos on social media, he wrote: "First race can't come soon enough," confirming his eyes are firmly fixed on the Australian Grand Prix season opened in March.

Before then, though, there is more testing to do. The official three-day pre-season will take place in Bahrain at the end of February where, like all his rivals, Hamilton will get the chance to properly put his actual 2025 racing machine through its paces for the first time. He won't have to wait even that long to get back out on track, though, as Ferrari are taking part in a Pirelli tyre test next week. That two-day event is also taking place at the Barcelona circuit and will see the team send a strange 'mule' version of its 2024 car out for some running.

Catch all the action from Formula One on Sky Sports and get exclusive access to races, qualifying and much more for every Grand Prix. From Max Verstappen to Lewis Hamilton, you won't miss a lap on Sky Sports. That's according to Italian publication Autoracer which reports: "Ferrari, for the Pirelli test, will run in Spain with a 'Monza-style configuration'. An unprecedented set-up for a circuit like Montmelo, which in normal conditions requires very large wings.

"McLaren has already experimented with this set-up [in a separate Pirelli test] at Paul Ricard, to simulate the lower downforce that the 2026 cars will have, which will have a downforce comparable to that of the 2024 cars in the Monza version. The mule cars are also running lightened, to simulate the -30kg that next year's cars will have.". Those two days on track running Pirelli's programme will be Hamilton's last proper testing days until Bahrain. Other than that, his only other opportunity to get behind the wheel of an F1 car will be for a brief shakedown of Ferrari's new challenger, the SF-25, after it is unveiled in mid-February.