Lewis Hamilton pulled Ferrari no-show as star disliked by Villeneuve stepped in

There was no Lewis Hamilton at the latest round of Ferrari testing as the all-time great continues to struggle with his new team. Hamilton's move to Scuderia had reignited hopes of an unprecedented eighth world title this season, but those ambitions are essentially already over after a harrowing start.

After nine Grand Prix races, Hamilton lies sixth in the standings and 119 points off the overall leader Oscar Piastri. With the exception of a sprint race win in China, he's failed to secure a podium finish in 2025. He's now skipped his team's latest test event in Fiorano, with Charles Leclerc and reserve driver Zhou Guanyu instead taking to the track in the modified SF-25 cars.

Ferrari was testing its Pirelli tyres in preparation for the 2026 season, when new regulations are expected to revolutionise the sport. Zhou was behind the wheel for the first day, completing 159 laps and setting a fastest lap time of 59:820 seconds on slick tyres and 1.07:400 seconds on intermediates.

Leclerc took over from the Chinese driver for the second and final day. The 26-year-old joined the Italian team at the end of last season after a difficult campaign at Sauber.

After scoring just four points in 2024, Zhou was axed. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas was also released, and Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto were brought in to replace them.

Sauber's decision followed Zhou being scathingly criticised by former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve midway through the season. He alleged the driver was only being employed by the Swiss team in order to attract sponsors from the Far East.

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"Based on the results, Zhou doesn't deserve a seat in F1," he ranted. "He has a big luggage of cash from his sponsors that he needs to put somewhere."

The driver responded by labelling Villeneuve's comments "stupid." He also accused the former Williams man of being "disrespectful" and dismissed the notion that he was only being employed for commercial gain.