Lewis Hamilton said it is “hard to believe” that he just got behind the wheel of his first Ferrari F1 challenger after the SF-25 made its track debut at Fiorano.

Hamilton has already been pumping in the laps at the wheel of Ferrari machinery, sampling the SF-23 in private TPC [testing of previous car] outings and an adapted SF-24 for Pirelli tyre testing duties, but on Wednesday, Hamilton finally got his first taste of the Ferrari car which he takes into battle in F1 2025, the SF-25.

‘How’s the car?’ – Lewis Hamilton reacts to Ferrari SF-25 bow

After new team-mate Charles Leclerc had the honour of driving the Ferrari SF-25 out at Fiorano for its first laps – completing around 30 it is believed – Hamilton took over at the wheel for the afternoon session, with filming day regulations placing a 200km limit on the running.

Ferrari launched their SF-25 hot off the heels of the F1 75 event in London on Tuesday, where the new liveries for all 10 teams were revealed, and after his session, Hamilton was asked by Sky Italy for his first debrief on Ferrari’s new challenger, his first.

“How’s the car? Good,” he confirmed. “It’s still early, I can’t say too much, but today we had no problems.

“It’s my first Ferrari and it’s hard to believe. I am living every moment intensely.”

Hamilton was also asked how he is finding early life as team-mate to Leclerc, the Monegasque driver – a product of the Ferrari Driver Academy – gearing up for his seventh season with the team.

“It’s great to work with Leclerc, but we already had things in common,” Hamilton revealed. “I’m starting to learn how he works and I’m doing my best to find the best feeling with the team.”

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The process of getting to grips with Ferrari machinery did produce one bump in the road for Hamilton, who suffered a crash at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – home of the Spanish Grand Prix – during a three-day Ferrari TPC test.

And it was an incident which he made a light-hearted reference to in his first public acknowledgement of it.

“I’ve enjoyed the testing that we’ve had,” Hamilton said at the SF-25 launch.

“I’ve had to find the limits of the car as quick as possible, because I only have a handful of days – and I definitely did that!

“It’s just been fun. Each week has been so different.

“There’s still a long road ahead of us and a lot of challenges, for sure, but I think we’ve covered as much as we could possibly cover in the small time we’ve had so far.”

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