The Tifosi aren’t the only ones paying attention to Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari with Christian Horner calling it “box office”.

Hamilton arrived at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters last week, January 20th marking his first day in red.

Red suits Lewis Hamilton, says Christian Horner

Ferrari celebrated the moment by releasing various photographs of Hamilton, including one of the Briton standing next to a Ferrari F40 outside of Enzo Ferrari’s red-doored house. It quickly became the most-liked Formula 1 Instagram post ever with more than five million likes.

Photographs of Hamilton in his Ferrari race suit were followed by others of him meeting the team before he climbed into a 2023 SF-23 for his first run in a Ferrari F1 car.

It marked the beginning of what the Tifosi are hoping will be a successful partnership as Ferrari chase a first World title since 2007 while on Hamilton’s side, he wants that elusive eighth World title.

Lewis Hamilton’s mega-millions move to Ferrari

👉10 biggest sports deals in history: Where does Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari salary rank?

👉Lewis Hamilton net worth: Where does he rank against football icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?

The seven-time World Champion’s switch from Mercedes, with whom he won six of his World titles, to Ferrari has dominated headlines the past few weeks.

Even Horner has been paying attention.

“I’ve seen some pictures, I think it suits him,” he said at Wednesday night’s Autosport Awards. “I think it’s great for Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari, that really is box office.

“So I think it’s just another dynamic for this year that could be super exciting.”

The Red Bull team principal believes Hamilton’s move to Ferrari could be just one of the big highlights in what he reckons will be a closely-contested F1 2025 championship.

“I think it’s going to be super tight,” he said. “You’re going to have four teams that are going to be very competitive. I think it’s going to be very tight, and take your pick.

“McLaren are going to be strong, Ferrari are going to be strong, Mercedes are going to have something to prove as well so it could be a stellar year.”

Max Verstappen and McLaren big winners at Autosport Awards

Horner’s star driver, Max Verstappen, was amongst the big winners in Wednesday night’s Autosport Awards as the reigning World Champion was voted the ‘Pirelli International Driver Of The Year’.

Verstappen wrapped up his fourth successive Drivers’ title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, doing so with two races to spare. But it was the Grand Prix just before that, Brazil, that set him up for the win.

Although he won seven of the season’s opening 10 races, a barren spell from Austria to Mexico saw Lando Norris enter the fight with the McLaren driver closing the gap to just over 40 points when he won the Sprint race in Brazil.

24 hours later Verstappen raced from 17th on the Interlagos grid in the pouring rain to win the Grand Prix by a whopping 16 seconds and all but assure him of a fourth title. He secured that at the next race with a P5 under the lights in Vegas.

His unforgettable Brazilian Grand Prix was voted the ‘Moment Of The Year’.

Norris’ performances during the 2024 season were also acknowledged as he won the ‘British Competition Driver of the Year’ for his runner-up result in the Drivers’ Championship while McLaren’s Constructors’-winning MCL38 was the ‘International Competition Car Of The Year ‘. Team principal Andrea Stella walked away with ‘Person Of The Year’.

There was also an honour for former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone as the 94-year-old was named as the Autosport Awards’ ’75th anniversary honoree’.

Read next: Fresh Lewis Hamilton crash details emerge as Leclerc suffers Ferrari setback