Lewis Hamilton will drive Ferrari’s 2025 Formula 1 car for the first time next week. They will hold a shakedown at the Fiorano test track on 19 February.
Ferrari aren’t pleased about attending the F175 launch in London, because they’ll have to fly in while their UK-based rivals make a short trip. But Hamilton will surely be the main attraction as he makes his first official appearance in red.
Thousands of fans watched Hamilton’s first test last month, but that was supposed to be a private event. Team principal Fred Vasseur has tried to control the hype around his new signing.
After that outing in the 2023 car, Hamilton headed to Barcelona. A crash on the second day of running wrecked Ferrari’s run plan, though the team played down the significance of the incident.
At the same venue, he then completed a Pirelli tyre test in a modified SF-24 car. By all accounts, that went more smoothly.
Most important of all is the official pre-season test in Bahrain, now just over a fortnight away. Off the track, Hamilton has been trying to gel with his new colleagues and rally the team behind him.
Ferrari staff delighted by Lewis Hamilton’s Italian gesture at Maranello
Hamilton appeared on stage at Ferrari’s Maranello HQ alongside Vasseur and Charles Leclerc. They each addressed the team staff ahead of the new season.
The former Mercedes driver thanked them for their ‘warm welcome’ and reiterated that it was his ‘dream’ to drive for Ferrari. Significantly, he delivered this message in Italian.
Hamilton has been learning some Italian ahead of his debut next month. At this early stage, he had to read the message off his phone.
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According to AutoRacer, Ferrari employees appreciated Hamilton’s ‘effort’ and his desire to ‘immerse himself in this new reality’. He went about it in the ‘right way’.
The crowd gave the ‘warmest’ reception to the seven-time world champion and ‘acclaimed him’. Leclerc is already fluent in Italian, but Hamilton will hope to establish a basic grasp in time.
Lewis Hamilton has already gone to greater lengths than Michael Schumacher at Ferrari
Former F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari claims Hamilton joined Ferrari to ‘have fun’. It’s clear now that he always planned to race in their colours before he retired.
But that doesn’t mean that winning is secondary. Hamilton wouldn’t have made the move if he thought he had a better chance of an unprecedented eighth world championship at Mercedes.
He’s currently tied with Michael Schumacher all-time on seven. Schumacher was criticised for ‘never’ speaking Italian at Ferrari, so Hamilton has already gone further in his efforts to ingratiate himself.
