Lewis Hamilton has said it has been “refreshing” to drive a car with “different requirements”, as has been the case at Ferrari so far.

He made the move from Mercedes after 12 seasons and six of his seven World Championships to join the Scuderia, and following testing has built more of an impression of the car underneath him.

Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari cars ‘massively different in characteristics’ to Mercedes

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The 2025 season represents the first in Hamilton’s Formula 1 career where he will have driven without Mercedes power, having started out at a Mercedes-powered McLaren before his 2013 move to the Silver Arrows.

The seven-time World Champion said he is taking the time to work with Ferrari’s engineers to establish how they go about working with their power unit, having spent so long with the Mercedes team.

As a car to drive, though, having taken part in testing of a previous car running before official pre-season testing in Bahrain, Hamilton revealed a few of the differences he has had to get used to since his move, which he has enjoyed the process of to date.

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When asked about his experience of driving a Ferrari so far, he replied to media including PlanetF1.com: “Well firstly, they’re very well built, and massively different in characteristics.

“But rather than just jump into a different car and having it exactly the same, it’s been refreshing to have something different, to learn different ways in which you have to drive the car, different requirements to how you approach corners.

“The engine has a different tone, a different feel, different drivability, and I’ve been driving Mercedes for so long, which was such a great power unit, and it’s great to see that Ferrari also have a great power unit.

“And it’s something that I’m, again, spending time with the engineers from the engine department and learning of the processes they take to for reliability and power. That’s a process in itself, but so far it’s been really great.”

Hamilton completed 162 laps for Ferrari in Bahrain testing, as he took in pre-season preparations for his Scuderia debut at Albert Park on Sunday 16 March.

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