If Lewis Hamilton had any first-day nerves after arriving at Ferrari’s Fiorano circuit on Wednesday, he didn’t show them.
Ferrari fans lined the few spots around the team’s private track that are open to the public to try and catch a glimpse of Lewis Hamilton creating history.
The crowd was ten-deep on the bridge that overlooks the circuit as Hamilton departed the garage at 9:17 am local time to begin to get to grips with Ferrari’s 2023 Formula 1 car.
Testing restrictions meant Hamilton wasn’t allowed to use last year’s car and Frederic Vasseur’s team won’t officially launch their 2025 machine until February 19, a day after the F1 75 event taking place in London where every team’s livery will be on show for the first time.
Hamilton completed 30 laps in barely visible conditions with deep fog covering most of the circuit.
Charles Leclerc and Hamilton’s lap times aren’t representative with both drivers getting used to being back behind the wheel of an F1 car after the winter break.
The seven-time world champion also had plenty of adjustments to make as he got used to the new processes and procedures at Ferrari that wouldn’t have been familiar to him at Mercedes.
A report from Autoracer has shared more details about how the 40-year-old got on in the SF-23.
They explain why Hamilton wasn’t completely confident in the car despite his 17 seasons of previous experience racing in Formula 1.
Lewis Hamilton’s ‘very complicated’ first Ferrari run at Fiorano
There was talk that Ferrari could delay Hamilton’s first test at the last minute due to the weather conditions at Fiorano.
The fog that nearly prevented many fans from seeing Hamilton on track is common at this time of year, but wasn’t enough to deter Ferrari, although risking upsetting thousands of the Tifosi who showed up wouldn’t have been a reason for cancelling.
Hamilton getting a few laps under his belt in the wet may be beneficial in the long run, as although it could rain in Barcelona where his next test is set to take place, it’s unlikely that he’ll face any bad weather during pre-season testing in Bahrain.
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The report from Autoracer suggests that Hamilton was prevented from pushing and having the ‘right confidence’ in the car due to the lack of heat he was capable of getting into the tyres.
This was due to the external temperature at the track and the limited opportunities to generate temperature on a track designed in the 1970s and not completely suitable for modern Formula 1 cars.
However, Hamilton began work adapting to Ferrari’s power unit which will have different intricacies to the Mercedes engines he’s used throughout his Formula 1 career.
Lewis Hamilton could create history on his Ferrari Formula 1 debut
While testing is going to be very important for Hamilton – as well as any work he does in the simulator over the next few weeks – ultimately his performance at the Australian Grand Prix and beyond is how he’ll be judged by Formula 1 fans.
It’s unfortunate that for the first time in years, Bahrain won’t host the first race, which would have given him a slight advantage given he’ll do the majority of his pre-season running at the Sakhir circuit.
However, there’s the opportunity for Hamilton to match Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel’s record at the beginning of the 2025 campaign.
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They both achieve their first wins for Ferrari within their first two Grand Prix for the team in 2010 and 2015 respectively.
Kimi Raikkonen also won on his Ferrari debut in 2007, while Michael Schumacher required seven races back in 1996.
It may be unrealistic to expect Hamilton to return to the top step of the podium in Australia or China, but if he can win his seventh race with the team like Schumacher, he would be doing so in front of Ferrari’s home crowd at Imola.
