Damon Hill says Ferrari keep doing something ‘utterly pointless’ in F1 testing

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Ferrari set the fastest time as F1’s pre-season testing schedule got underway in Barcelona last week.

Lewis Hamilton beat George Russell to the top of the overall leaderboard when he set a 1:16.3 on the final day. Teams up and down the pit lane are stressing that lap times don’t matter at this stage.

That’s an annual tradition in winter testing, but it can be taken at face value this year after the extensive rule changes. The drivers had to adapt to the new technology and the teams had to make sure their cars could run smoothly.

Lewis Hamilton led the way in Barcelona but the gaps were tight!

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There are still another six days of testing to come in Bahrain before the end of the month. By the end of the programme, teams should start to show their hand in qualifying simulations.

Damon Hill says Ferrari feel ‘pressure’ to deliver lap times in testing

Speaking on The Race’s ‘Stay on Track‘ podcast, Damon Hill suggested that Ferrari are prone to so-called glory runs during testing. The ‘pressure’ on the team is such that they want to appear fast, even if their rivals aren’t pushing as hard.

This reminds Hill of two of his former teams – Arrows and Jordan, both of whom were in the midfield. While sponsors may welcome the attention, it’s a move that can backfire.

Ferrari set the second-fastest time of F1 testing last year through Hamilton, then locked out the fourth row for the season opener in Australia.

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Meanwhile, Williams were accused of appeasing their sponsors by emptying Carlos Sainz’s fuel tank, which allowed him to jump to the top of the leaderboard.

“It’s utterly pointless,” said Hill. “The culprits for this were Tom Walkinshaw with Arrows, Jordan as well. Don’t do it! You’ll just look like an idiot when you come to the race and you’re not quick!

“They do it because the sponsors want an uplift. They want to have something they can crow about.

“Ferrari are also good at doing this, it seems to me. They feel the pressure to just get a lap time.

“I think Red Bull are very good at keeping their powder dry and not showing their hand.”

Is Ferrari’s 2026 F1 car too safe?

Ferrari completed 440 laps over three days in Barcelona, second only to Mercedes. That’s more important than the times for now.

Indeed, Juan Pablo Montoya believes Mercedes can go four seconds quicker than they did last week. It remains to be seen how much pace Ferrari and co. have in their pocket.

F1 technical expert Gary Anderson fears Ferrari have been too safe with their chassis, even if one can understand that approach after last year’s ride-height debacle.

On the power unit side, Ferrari are ‘concerned’ about energy management, which will be critical this year, after studying the Barcelona data. But testing exists partly so teams can identify this kind of problem before the competitive action begins.