Hamilton, Leclerc log 623km in Ferrari-Pirelli Imola test
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 16, 2026
Hamilton and Leclerc test
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc put in a full day for Ferrari at Imola, combining for 623 kilometers in the SF-26 on the first day of Pirelli’s two-day 2027 Formula 1 tire test. Hamilton handled the morning session first and worked through Pirelli’s C3, C4 and C5 prototype compounds, while Leclerc took over in the afternoon as Ferrari and Pirelli gathered data on tire behavior and degradation. The target was development, not headlines on the timing sheet, and the two drivers helped Pirelli evaluate tire behavior and degradation. Hamilton logged 64 laps and 314 kilometers, and Leclerc added 63 laps and 309 kilometers. Pirelli finished the day with 127 laps of data from the test, a useful volume as the company shapes its 2027 tire specifications.
Hamilton’s morning run
Hamilton opened the program with steady mileage and a focused tire evaluation in the morning session. He ran the prototype C3, C4 and C5 compounds and completed five-lap performance runs as part of Pirelli’s effort to refine its tire specifications. His best lap was 1:19.485, a useful benchmark even in a test built around development work rather than outright speed. The track climbed to 50C during Hamilton’s run, which gave Pirelli another layer of information on how the compounds reacted in extreme heat. That kind of temperature gave the engineers another condition to assess during the test. Hamilton’s 314 kilometers in the SF-26 gave Pirelli more data as it refined its tire specifications.
Leclerc, Ferrari and Wednesday
Leclerc answered with the fastest time of the day in the afternoon session, stopping the clocks at 1:18.832 after 63 laps and 309 kilometers. He also completed five-lap performance runs, giving Pirelli another direct look at how the prototype tires behaved over those runs. Ferrari kept the pace of the day moving by running its SF-25 in a separate Testing of Previous Cars program with Rafael Câmara and Arthur Leclerc. Pirelli’s work at Imola was set to continue Wednesday with Antonio Giovinazzi, Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, as the tire maker kept building its 2027 program. The test day delivered a clean split between Ferrari’s two current race drivers, a separate run for the older car program and a full haul of data for Pirelli, all centered on tire development rather than lap-time glory.
