The decision for Ferrari to sign Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 Formula 1 season was met with positivity from the vast majority of the paddock.
After 12 seasons with Mercedes, it was clear that the direction the team was heading in didn’t seem to suit Lewis Hamilton as he went nearly 1,000 days without a Grand Prix victory at one point.
However, the opportunity to see Hamilton race for Ferrari – Formula 1’s most iconic team – was something many fans had hoped would happen for a very long time and the first images of the seven-time world champion in front of Enzo Ferrari’s home were immediately iconic.
Hamilton’s photoshoot on his first day at Ferrari broke records and thousands of people turned up to see his first outing in one of their Formula 1 cars at the team’s private circuit at Fiorano.
Eddie Jordan believed that Ferrari made a mistake signing Hamilton, suggesting that sticking with Carlos Sainz alongside Charles Leclerc was the better option.
The former F1 team principal was speaking on the most recent Formula For Success Podcast and has now explained why he’s already changed his viewpoint on the 40-year-old’s winter switch.
Eddie Jordan explains why he’s now ‘totally warm’ to the idea of Lewis Hamilton racing for Ferrari
Jordan was talking about Hamilton’s first public appearances as a Ferrari driver and said: “What I thought was unbelievably eye-catching, that photograph of Lewis Hamilton in that coat, it just depicts why I think Ferrari went for him.
“He’s box office. And please check, I think you will find as close to 6 million likes about the way he looked on his appearance in that very stylish photograph.
“And it’ll be iconic, that photograph will be used for many, many, many years to come because of the way it is, and it depends, of course, [on] how he gets on, but at the same time I think the photograph will be used.
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“We heard recently about the crash, which is unfortunate because I also saw the photograph of the many, many, many thousands of the Tifosi that turned up to take photographs, wishing him well just on a little reconnaissance trip with the car.
“So. you can imagine what it’s going to be like on Grand Prix day. I think he will be a huge draw.
“I think he’s not just box office for Formula 1, I think he’s box office everywhere, particularly in the Americas, in Asia, we know about Europe.
“I’m totally warm to the idea that Ferrari, for all sorts of reasons, particularly commercial, made the right decision.”
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc complete Ferrari TPC and Pirelli test in Barcelona
Formula 1’s testing rules mean that Ferrari can’t simply allow Hamilton to complete endless miles around their test track and the Circuit de Catalunya in last year’s car to begin learning about the new power unit, brakes and other nuances of their machines before the first race of the season in Australia.
Instead, Hamilton did a small amount of testing at Fiorano before completing several days of TPC running at the home of the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The 40-year-old crashed on the second day, limiting Leclerc’s running but Ferrari weren’t worried about Hamilton’s shunt and although the extent of the damage he did is unknown, he was unharmed but the car wasn’t capable of returning to the track for the rest of the day.
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Hamilton will be keen to make any small mistakes like his crash before pre-season testing in Bahrain and the opening race of the campaign in Melbourne.
Everyone is going to be closely studying his every move and while there are plenty of new team and driver combinations to get excited about, Hamilton is the crown jewel of the grid.
He faces one of his toughest teammates in F1 so far in Leclerc, but getting the better of the Monegasque driver is essential if he wants to win his eighth championship.
