Why footage of Ferrari ‘breakdown’ was not what it seemed

Footage of Lewis Hamilton stopping out on track during Ferrari’s Fiorano shakedown was not what it seemed, as the SF-26 did not break down, rather it was “part of the plan” from Ferrari to optimise the mileage available.

Ferrari’s SF-26 broke cover on Friday, with Hamilton putting the first laps on the all-new F1 2026 challenger at the team’s private test track in Fiorano.

Lewis Hamilton stopped out on track during Ferrari’s SF-26’s debut

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The moment was captured by Ferrari’s ever-faithful Tifosi, who began to arrive at 5am already to line the vantage points around the circuit for a first look and posted video clips online.

One clip raised alarm as it appeared to show Hamilton grinding to a halt on the track before the Ferrari mechanics surrounded the car and pushed it back to the garage.

hmmm… pic.twitter.com/uZzcxLBDJL

— sim (@simscircuit) January 23, 2026

But it was not what it seemed.

According to ESPN, a Ferrari spokesperson confirmed that the stoppage was “part of the plan” to maximise the mileage available, given that the teams are only permitted to complete a total of 15km during a demonstration run as Friday’s run was registered.

Hamilton covered three laps before handing the car over to his teammate, Charles Leclerc, who completed two.

Ferrari’s demo run took place just days before the teams head to Barcelona for the first behind-closed-doors test of the pre-season.

Team principal Fred Vasseur said: “I think we postponed as much as we can the demo day to have time to develop the car, but we knew the calendar from the beginning.

“It means that it’s a long-term process, that we decided we’ll bring upgrade on the next session, but the most important at the beginning is the reliability. The most important is to be able to do mileage and it’s why we are quite happy today because we didn’t have any issue.

“I think for Barcelona it’s a good step. In Barcelona the target will be to get the maximum of information on the car, the maximum of data, and then we’ll start the development from Bahrain onwards.”

The Ferrari SF-26 will be on track next week in Barcelona, however, Ferrari has confirmed it will miss Monday’s running to give the team more time to develop the car. The teams are permitted to only run on three of the five days, beginning on Monday.

“We know the challenge that we had to face on this project and it was a good day today when the car left the garage but on the other hand, it’s not the target,” Vasseur added.

“The target for sure is the season [to come] – it means that it’s the start of a new journey, starting today with the test in Barcelona in Bahrain and the races.

“The most important is to be able to do mileage. And that’s why we are quite happy today because we didn’t have any issue. And I think this is, for Barcelona, a good step.

“In Barcelona, the target will be to get the maximum of information on the car, maximum of data. And then we start the development from Bahrain onwards.”

Two official pre-season tests with follow the Barcelona outing, both taking place in Bahrain, from 11-13 February and 18-20 February.

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