When Lewis Hamilton set up his first time for the team for the team for the first time, he needed a moment to adapt to his new look.
Although setting up a set of overalls is automatic for racing drivers, completed thousands of times through their career, attracting the iconic red of Ferrari is an honor that is given to so little. And after 12 years in the silver and black of Mercedes, this was a big change for Hamilton.
He was finally in Ferrari Red. The excitement and anticipation that he thought had been in the making for a long time. Now, after F1’s seasonal launch in London and his first test in the 2025 car, it is a reality.
Such a miracle is something that only Ferrari can stir. It doesn’t matter how many world championships or races you win, the feeling of being part of the most famous, successful team of F1 is unparalleled. That is why Hamilton wanted to make the move and why he has radiated the excitement since he started at Maranello in the mid -January.
After the new season and the official start of his next chapter, the enthusiasm of Hamilton has shown zero signs of reconciliation. After a sobering final year with Mercedes that part of the bubbling seemed to sap from his love for F1, often Christianed by an under -performing car, Hamilton has a fresh spring in his step.
He has been revived. Renewed. And more importantly, he is hopeful the record -breaking eighth world championship that he arrived in a round of winning in 2021 is again in his sights in Ferrari.
“They absolutely have every ingredient they need to win a world championship,” said Hamilton. “It’s about putting together all the pieces.”
Adapting to a new environment is not something that Hamilton did a lot during his F1 career.
In contrast to more travel companions F1 drivers – On Tuesday, Carlos Sainz noted that he drove half of the grid in 10 years – Hamilton moves to his third team only. It will be the first time that he has driven without Mercedes engines and the first time he was not racing for an English team.
“This step is huge,” said Hamilton on Wednesday after his first test in Ferrari’s new car. “It can’t be bigger.” There has been a lot of adjustment, ranging from the vibration of the Ferrari engine behind him to the different control wheel functions and processes. Hamilton feels a new appreciation for drivers who have made those switches and have immediately been successful, but he embraces the change.
“Every day I experience something new, which is actually really exciting,” said Hamilton.
That includes Italian learning. While Ferrari leads all his meetings in English, Hamilton started taking Italian lessons last year to better communicate with his mechanics and engineers, such as Chit chat about daily life. Learning a new language has always been one of Hamilton’s dreams. He even gave a speech in Italian in the Ferrari factory last week and wants to immerse in Italian culture – including the food. “Last week I had three pizzas,” Hamilton revealed and noticed that, although he did indeed lose weight, he knew he couldn’t last.
Vasseur and Hamilton debuted the SF-25 on F1 75 Live on Tuesday. (Sam Bloxham/Getty images)
The effort that Hamilton has made with his new colleagues has not gone unnoticed. On his first day the factory visited, he tried to meet and shake all 1500 team members. “He is pretty great with people,” said Jerome d’Ambrosio, Ferrari’s new deputy team head who worked with Hamilton at Mercedes. “The team loves him after the first day.”
Hamilton also enjoyed many aspects that make Ferrari unique, such as having the entire team under one roof-the motorcycle facility of Mercedes was a 40-minute drive from the F1 team head office and even a test track in front of the door.
Hamilton is also working well with his new teammate, Charles Leclerc. While the couple had talked in the past, it was only at Hamilton’s official start at Ferrari that they could work together. They already play games of chess against each other, even during the F1 75 live event on Tuesday at the O2-Hamilton, 3-2 has risen, according to Leclerc. They show signs of a good partnership.
“The first weeks of cooperation between the two are mega-goods,” said Ferrari team director Fred Vasseur. “I am not surprised at all. We now start in a very good shape. The most important thing is to maintain this relationship, to continue to work as a team and to push as a team. “
Vasseur said that Hamilton was currently the ‘perfect fit’ for Ferrari, while Leclerc thought the Brit was participating at the ideal point, because the mentality of the team is now stronger than ever, partly thanks to the leadership of Vasseur. No longer in a rebuilding, the championship is a realistic goal for Ferrari.
“The fact that Lewis joined the team has been a big boost and has been great in so many ways,” said Leclerc. “But I feel that the team is very, very calm and very calm and very clear in what the direction is to work in and is not hit too much by everything that happens in the team. That is extremely important and great to see. ‘
What is the most important thing is how Hamilton performs when the new F1 season starts and how Ferrari relates to the competition.
Hamilton was in adamant Ferrari had all the ingredients to win the world championship for the first time since 2008. Last year, the team only shy 14 points shy by the constructors and lost to McLaren. An incredibly fine margin – but a decisive margin. In a season in which Vasseur expects four teams to conflict with Race victories, every last thousandth of a second will matter.
“It’s not a matter of changing the car completely or whatever,” said Vasseur. “If we are able to bring a little bit of performance about one or two subjects, it is already a huge step forward. And Lewis comes with his own experience, with his own background. He will help the team to develop in every area. “
Ferrari opted for an important design change with its 2025 car: switching from a push-ROD suspension to a pull-ROD design, in the conviction that it would clean up the air flow around the car and allow a larger aerodynamic development after All areas with the latter had exhausted with the last annual model. Although the SF-25 is an evolution of last year’s model and the overall car concept remains the same, reducing the learning curve that the team will go through is new.
Even if Hamilton has faith in Ferrari’s title -winning skills, he noticed how fierce the competition will be this year. “It’s much too early to know what the year will be like,” said Hamilton. “What we do know is that it will be very close between the top teams. We have not seen the other cars; We have not been on the track with the other cars. ‘
Lewis Hamilton greets fans at the end of the day at the Fiorano circuit on February 19, 2025 (Emmanual Ciancaglini/Getty images)
The title of an eighth drivers is the goal, but the appreciation of Hamilton for Ferrari is deeply running and he knows how important the end of the team’s title will be – if there is something, more importantly, how invested everyone at Maranello (and In all of Italy) is to let it happen. “That’s where I work,” he said. “I don’t think of number eight. I am thinking of the first championship that the team has won for a while. “
Hamilton knows how much hard work is still for us to prepare for the new season, but the spark he has rediscovered with this step to Ferrari is clear from every interaction. It has given him a new life in many ways. At the age of 40 there is no sign that he thinks about how his F1 career can end. He feels young and stays in peak physical condition. And this new project is only imposing him.
“The energy I receive from the team, there is magic here,” said Hamilton. “It is still going to work a lot of hard work and grafting from absolutely everyone and everyone is already doing that to achieve it.
“But it’s also about faith. Everyone dreams of winning with Ferrari, every person in this team. “
After a difficult few years, that faith returns to Lewis Hamilton. In the coming weeks will reveal how sincere his title are opportunities in his first year in red. But for now things feel good.
“I know I am exactly where I should be,” said Hamilton. “It feels of course, it feels good.”
(Top photo of Lewis Hamilton: Sam Bloxham/Getty images)