Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari adventure: "realizing a dream"
Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool
Lewis Hamilton begins his Ferrari journey: “realizing a dream".
Lewis Hamilton has embarked on a new chapter in his illustrious career, visiting the Ferrari headquarters this week for his first official engagement since joining the iconic team at the beginning of the year.
The seven-time world champion, who captured six of his titles with Mercedes, is now set to make his track debut with Ferrari, driving a car that's at least two years old. Ferrari has indicated that the exact timing of this highly anticipated run will depend on weather conditions.
Nearly a year ago, Hamilton stunned the racing world by announcing his move to Ferrari on a multiyear contract. Reflecting on this pivotal moment, Hamilton shared on social media, "There are some days that you know you'll remember forever and today, my first as a Ferrari driver, is one of those days. I've been lucky enough to have achieved things in my career I never thought possible, but part of me has always held on to that dream of racing in red. I couldn't be happier to realize that dream today. Today we start a new era in the history of this iconic team, and I can't wait to see what story we will write together."
During his visit to the Maranello facility, Hamilton met with team principal Fred Vasseur and CEO Benedetto Vigna, and posed for photos outside the historic house of Enzo Ferrari, located at the Fiorano test track. He shared an image on Instagram, standing beside his favorite Ferrari road car, the F40.
Hamilton participated in an "a daylong total immersion program," touring the team’s different departments, meeting management, and greeting Piero Ferrari, son of the legendary founder.
Under F1 regulations, teams can use cars that are at least two years old for private testing outside of official preseason and Pirelli tire testing. Drivers are allowed to cover 1,000 km in older cars throughout the year, but Ferrari's team principal Fred Vasseur, confident in Hamilton's vast experience of 356 Grand Prix starts, expressed no concerns about his adaptation.
"We know that we will have a lot of procedures to assimilate during these couple of days," Vasseur commented last year, "but I think he is experienced enough to do it. We'll have the advantage of using the simulator for race simulation, qualy simulation, and to be fully prepared with the steering wheel and race specifics. Honestly, I'm not worried about this. It's not the biggest challenge."
Ferrari plans to utilize their Fiorano test track for Hamilton's upcoming sessions and is considering private testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, home of the Spanish Grand Prix, with an older car later this month.
Hamilton is expected to have his first glimpse of the 2025 car during its launch on February 19 at Fiorano. While teams are allowed limited track time outside of official testing for promotional purposes, the true test will come during preseason testing from February 26-28 in Bahrain. This will mark Hamilton's first extensive opportunity to log meaningful miles in his race car for the upcoming season.
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