Lewis Hamilton will have his first chance to drive a Ferrari Formula 1 car on Wednesday. It’s the landmark event of the F1 off-season, and the centrepiece of his first week in Maranello.
Hamilton will not yet be testing the 2025 machinery. Instead, Ferrari will use one of their TPC (testing previous cars) slots for his first outing.
If all goes to plan, the 40-year-old will drive at the Fiorano test track near the team’s factory. As he often did at Mercedes, Hamilton could also complete a filming day in the new car before pre-season testing.
| DATE | EVENT |
| 31 August 2023 | Hamilton signs new Mercedes contract |
| 1 February 2024 | Hamilton activates 2025 exit clause in Mercedes deal, joins Ferrari |
| 28 July 2024 | Hamilton wins the Belgian Grand Prix, his final victory for Mercedes |
| 8 December 2024 | Hamilton’s last race for Mercedes in Abu Dhabi |
| 13 December 2024 | Hamilton bids farewell to Mercedes staff at Brackley HQ |
| 20 January 2025 | Hamilton reports to Maranello as a Ferrari driver |
Ferrari have had an unusually long window to prepare for Hamilton’s arrival. They agreed a deal around a year ago after electing not to renew Carlos Sainz’s contract.
Contracted to Mercedes until the end of the year, he’s only now been able to make an official visit to the team’s HQ. His first two days consisted of introductions, meetings and simulator work.
Hamilton is naturally on the backfoot compared to teammate Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque is deeply embedded in the team, having raced for them since 2019.
Lewis Hamilton finally sees seating position adjusted at Ferrari
According to journalist Ralf Bach, speaking on the F1-Insider YouTube channel, Ferrari have made changes to their 2025 car with Hamilton partly in mind.
One of those concerns his seating position. Hamilton has been asking Mercedes ‘for two years’ to move the cockpit further back.
They have refused, partly because it has a natural knock-on effect. But Ferrari were willing to relocate their engine to make it happen.
Bach clarified that the difference compared to last year will be four centimetres at most. Even that could be ‘crucial’ for Hamilton, though.
“If you look closely, they have moved the radar sensor and the engine further back to improve the centre of gravity,” Bach said. “The most important thing for Hamilton – and it may well be that they’ve responded to his wish – is that the drivers sit further back.
“He has been complaining to Mercedes for two years that he sits too far forward as a driver. We are talking about two, three, four centimetres. But that is crucial for them [F1 drivers] in terms of feeling.”
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton cockpit change could open up a ‘whole new world’
Ferrari built their car around Michael Schumacher, but they refused to take the same approach after signing Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel or even Leclerc. It would, then, be an immense privilege for Hamilton.
Of course, the car itself is still under wraps, so it’s difficult to say with certainty, but the consensus is that Ferrari are doing all they reasonably can to restore the best version of their new signing.
He endured statistically his poorest F1 season to date last year, but Hamilton says a new seating position can open up a ‘whole new world’ by improving visibility.
Ex-Mercedes engineer Loic Serra has also requested a Ferrari car change that could improve their qualifying performance. He wants to tweak the suspension so that they’re kinder on their tyres.
The seven-time world champion persistently struggled to get his tyres into the right temperature range during decisive moments in Q3 last year. With this generation of cars in particular, that’s critical to lap time.
