Excitement is building around Maranello ahead of the first of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Ferrari ended last season on a high even if they missed out on the constructors’ championship to McLaren after the final race of the campaign.
Charles Leclerc drove an incredible race in Abu Dhabi and managed to join his previous teammate Carlos Sainz on the podium from the back row of the grid.
While Sainz had arguably the best season of his Formula 1 career in 2024, Ferrari will believe that they’ve upgraded their driver line-up once again by bringing in Lewis Hamilton from Ferrari.
Hamilton has broken nearly every record there is to break in F1 and winning an eighth championship with the sport’s most iconic team will be the next achievement in his sights.
That’s not going to be an easy task, with Leclerc sensing an opportunity to win his first title and both McLaren drivers also hoping to challenge for the championship if Max Verstappen’s Red Bull is once again slightly off the pace.
However, expectations will be high for Hamilton within Ferrari as they look to justify their decision to sign him and a report from Gazzetta dello Sport has outlined more details about what the Scuderia are hoping for this year.
Ferrari have no ‘doubts’ that Lewis Hamilton will be ‘super competitive’ at the Australian Grand Prix
Hamilton has taken part in an extensive pre-season program in Fiorano and Barcelona to start getting used to racing for Ferrari.
Although Hamilton crashed during his test in Barcelona, he’s experienced both the 2023 and 2024 F1 cars which will give him a small indication of what this year’s car will be like.
He’ll get to drive it for the first time during a shakedown at Fiorano after the F1 75 event in London before three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Hamilton will also be doing plenty of work in Ferrari’s simulator and while the experience is becoming more and more immersive, it’s not a perfect substitute for being on track.
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Typically, drivers take part in testing in Bahrain before the first race of the season takes place at the circuit in Sakhir.
However, due to the timing of Ramadan, the Australian Grand Prix will host the season opener in a throwback to Hamilton’s F1 debut back in 2007.
The report from Gazzetta suggests that Ferrari have no ‘doubts’ that Hamilton will be ‘super competitive’ in Melbourne.
They have been impressed by the growth shown over his first few weeks with team principal Frederic Vasseur’s outfit and aren’t anticipating the 40-year-old needing too much time to get up to speed.
What is Lewis Hamilton’s record like at the Australian Grand Prix?
Ferrari have every reason to believe Hamilton will be successful at Albert Park based on his previous visits.
The 40-year-old was on the podium back in 2007 on his debut and a year later won the race in Melbourne to get his first championship-winning season off to the perfect start.
However, Hamilton was disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix the following year in 2009 after being caught up in the ‘Lie-gate’ scandal.
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In total, Hamilton has won the Australian GP twice, coming home first in 2015 alongside his 2008 victory.
He’s finished on the podium a further eight times (2007, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023) and would love to add to that tally this year.
