Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari era has officially began after he took to the Fiorano test track for the first time at Maranello.
The adoring Tifosi had been waiting for this moment for nearly a year, after Hamilton announced a shock exit from Mercedes at the start of last season.
Around 2,000 to 3,000 fans lined up early to catch a glimpse of Hamilton, who emerged from the garage at 9:16am local time and completed an installation lap.
F1 teams are restricted in the number of kilometres they are allowed to cover with a car from previous years, with a maximum of 1,000km allowed of private testing in 2025.
Hamilton clocked up 30 laps separated into four runs around the murky Fiorano, with him set to hand testing duties over to Charles Leclerc in the afternoon.
Watching the runs from the sidelines, journalist Aaron Deckers noted one thing about the fan turnout when comparing it to when other world champions took their first laps around the track when speaking on RacingNews365.nl.
Lewis Hamilton fan turn out ‘chaos’ not the same as Sebastian Vettel
Conditions for watching Hamilton’s first laps were far from ideal with heavy fog covering the circuit, but that did not stop some from catching a glimpse when his car rolled out of the garage.
Ferrari fans were already leaving messages to Hamilton, as they show their appreciation for one of F1’s greatest drivers.
Decker’s noted how the fan turnout was even better than some had thought, comparing it to when Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc drove their first laps at the iconic test track.
“I left at 6:30 and turned up at 7:00 and then I have to say it was already quite busy. There was quite a few people present. The Italians were early, but people in Italy have been looking forward to this for a very long time,” said Deckers.
“Many mechanics have a feeling of tension for the moment, it is quite something with a seven-time world champion coming here. The fans didn’t all come here for Charles Leclerc and not even when Sebastian Vettel came in it wasn’t as much chaos.”
What are Lewis Hamilton’s plans for pre-season?
The lack of available test time means that Hamilton will have limited options to prepare, with him expected to spend most of the time in the simulator before the Australian Grand Prix.
After his laps around Fiorano, Hamilton will be heading to the Circuit de Catalunya Barcelona for most laps in either a 2022 or 2023 car.
READ MORE: What is Fiorano? Ferrari’s legendary test track where Lewis Hamilton will make Scuderia debut
Hamilton could also have a third option to test at Magny-Cours as part of Pirelli’s 2026 evaluation, should he want to get more expreience.
Official pre-season testing commences between 26th and 28th February, just a week after Ferrari plans to launch its 2025 challenger officially.
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