Lewis Hamilton’s first day at Ferrari’s iconic Maranello factory has been and gone as his newest challenge in Formula 1 begins.
Since announcing at the beginning of last year that he would be swapping Mercedes for Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton’s long-awaited arrival at his new team has finally taken place.
The 40-year-old was greeted by plenty of Ferrari fans outside of the team’s factory on Monday after weeks of teasing from himself and the team on social media.
Hamilton completed his first duties as a Ferrari driver and met many of the staff members who will be helping him to win an eighth world championship.
That’s not going to be easy given how much the grid has converged during the current set of regulations.
Every minute Hamilton and new teammate Charles Leclerc can spend at Maranello working on the 2025 car could prove to be vital.
Hamilton has already taken part in his first Ferrari simulator session, although there’s no substitute for examining how the car feels on track.
Ferrari’s drivers will have to wait until they officially launch the car in February before they can drive the 2025 machine due to testing restrictions.
However, a report from Autosport suggests that Hamilton has already started to make adjustments to the car he’ll be racing with in 2025 on his very first day with the team.
Lewis Hamilton has already requested steering wheel changes after first day at Ferrari
There are many new processes and procedures that Hamilton will have to get used to at Ferrari, which will be different from how things worked at Mercedes.
He’ll have to quickly build up a relationship with Riccardo Adami after Peter Bonnington stayed at the Silver Arrows to begin working with Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The car is also going to feel very different when he first starts driving it and according to Autosport, Hamilton’s new seat was prepared ahead of his first test on Monday.
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Not only that but the ‘adjustments he requested on the steering wheel’ were also carried out by the team.
It’s not been explained exactly what these changes are, but could be to do with the layout of the buttons on the steering wheel which may be in a different position to when he was at Mercedes.
When Hamilton is required to make changes at high speed during races, he won’t want to hesitate and have to think about which button he needs to press, although Ferrari will also expect him to continue adapting to how they go racing.
Lewis Hamilton will soon learn just how passionate Ferrari’s fans really are
Ferrari are anticipating problems with Hamilton’s debut test given how many fans could turn up at Fiorano for his first outing at the team’s private track.
There’s one spot on a bridge where members of the public could see the action on track and given many are expecting his first test to take place on Wednesday, it wouldn’t be a surprise if fans are already camping out in the best spot to get a glimpse of their new hero.
The weather could impact when Hamilton’s first test takes place.
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Given F1’s rules limit how often Hamilton and Leclerc can go out and run in private outings this year, they won’t want to waste any time if conditions aren’t perfect.
It could leave some very soggy fans waiting days for Hamilton to finally get behind the wheel of Ferrari’s 2023 F1 car.
But this will only highlight the passion that they have for the team and their desire for Hamilton and Leclerc to end their 17-year wait for a championship.
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