Lewis Hamilton has driven a Ferrari F1 car for the first time at their Fiorano test track in Italy in front of the adoring Tifosi fans.
The seven-time world champion commenced work this week at Maranello, meeting various members of the team and being pictured outside of Enzo Ferrari’s old house next to a Ferrari F40 supercar.
Hamilton’s images broke social media records as he teased the first private test with Ferrari, nearly a year after he announced his shock move to the Italian team.
Taking to the Fiorano track for the first time, which is next to the team’s factory, Hamilton drove the SF-23 from the 2023 season on Pirelli Academy tyres. Under the Testing of Previous Cars rules, teams are allowed to test up to 1,000km across four days in cars from the 2021, 2022, and 2023 season.
Fans lined up along the fences at the Fiorano circuit to catch a first glimpse of the seven-time world champion in red, with many saying the same thing when they saw him on track.
What Tifosi fans shouted when they first saw Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari
Ferrari fans arrived at Fiorano in the early hours of the morning, despite being greeted by fog and limited visibility of the track.
The weather was expected to play a role in whether Ferrari would postpone the test, given it is only around 7°C and was forecasted to rain.
READ MORE: What is Fiorano? Ferrari’s legendary test track where Lewis Hamilton will make Scuderia debut
Hamilton began his running on track at 9:16am local time, with fans being able to see him as he entered the first corner coming out of the garage. Hamilton’s father, mother and step mother were present to watch the occasion.
Marking the historic debut, Tifosi fans were waving Ferrari flags and shouting: “My God!” according to Sky Sports Italy, who were present trackside.
Lewis Hamilton rolls back to yellow helmet for Ferrari debut
After releasing images of himself in red overalls on Tuesday night, Hamilton would later go on to share a picture of his helmet in the minutes before he took to the track.
Hamilton’s helmet designs have been a mix of purple and neon yellow while he was at Mercedes, with the occasional white helmet.
For his debut at Ferrari, the seven-time world champion kept things simple and reverted to his classic yellow helmet design used for his debut at McLaren and Mercedes.
It is unclear whether he will use the same helmet design throughout the 2025 season given drivers are allowed to change them from race-to-race, but it is certainly a throwback for those who have followed Hamilton’s career over the last 18 years.
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