Seven-time System One world champion Lewis Hamilton formally started his Ferrari profession this week with a collection of check runs at Ferrari’s Italian headquarters in Maranello.
“Driving a Scuderia Ferrari HP automotive for the primary time this morning was probably the greatest emotions of my life,” Hamilton said after completing his first laps, per Laurence Edmondson of ESPN.
“Once I began the automotive up and drove via that storage door, I had the most important smile on my face. It jogged my memory of the very first time I examined a System One automotive. It was such an thrilling and particular second, and right here I’m, virtually 20 years later, feeling these feelings yet again.”
Hamilton’s shock transfer to Ferrari has attracted unprecedented consideration from F1 followers throughout the globe. Hamilton’s first Instagram publish with the workforce — taken in entrance of Enzo Ferrari’s transformed farmhouse on the Fiorano circuit — turned the most-liked publish in F1 historical past in a matter of hours.
That fan curiosity prolonged to Hamilton’s check drive, too. Hundreds of tifosi — ardent followers — flocked to Maranello to look at Hamilton’s first observe laps in freezing situations.
“I already knew from the surface how passionate the Ferrari household is, from everybody within the workforce to the tifosi,” Hamilton said after the test drive. “However to now witness it firsthand as a Ferrari driver has been awe-inspiring.”
Hamilton’s Ferrari change is a match made in heaven for each events: He’s chasing his elusive, record-breaking eighth world title, whereas Ferrari is chasing its first driver championship since Kimi Raikkonen gained the collection in 2007. With current championship-winning sides Purple Bull and Mercedes struggling upfront of the 2025 season, there is a sense of destiny swirling round Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters.
However Hamilton is not the one driver able to successful a championship for Ferrari this yr. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari’s Monegasque driver generally known as il predestinato for his otherworldly talent, will push Hamilton to the restrict in 2025. He has pushed for the Italian workforce since 2019 and may enter the season with a severe benefit: He is aware of the automotive, and the workforce, much better than Hamilton does.
Watching Leclerc and Hamilton battle for dominance of their respective Ferraris must be one of many highlights of the 2025 season. If Hamilton wins, it is going to reinforce his standing as one of many biggest of all time; if Leclerc does, it is going to raise him into the higher echelon of recent F1 drivers.
The primary Ferrari check for Hamilton and Leclerc have been run in pattern automobiles from earlier seasons. They will check out Ferrari’s new 2025 car on the finish of February, once they (and the remainder of the F1 grid) journey to Bahrain for official preseason testing.
The 2025 F1 season will start March 16 with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
