Lewis Hamilton’s time at Ferrari so far has been largely about adapting to his new surroundings, as he takes on one of the most famous teams in motorsport.
The seven-time world champion is attempting to win his eighth title in a row at the legendary team, and has already had a taste of what it is like to be a Ferrari driver with tests at Fiorano and Barcelona.
Hamilton was quicker than Charles Leclerc in one fastest lap comparison, although it is hard to digest how significant that is, given it was for a Pirelli 2026 tyre test.
Thousands of fans turned up for Hamilton’s first run at Fiorano, and he will be the main attraction when F1 heads to Bahrain for pre-season testing. Depending on how good Ferrari’s 2025 challenger is at the start of the season, Hamilton is expected to be challenging for the win at the season opener in Melbourne.
How he will stack up against Leclerc is set to be one of the main storylines, with former Red Bull F1 driver Christian Klien outlining one reason why Hamilton will beat him when speaking on the Business of Winning podcast.
Christian Klien outlines why Lewis Hamilton will beat Charles Leclerc in qualifying
Leclerc is known for being a one-lap specialist, which is why he is expected to beat Hamilton in qualifying. It was one of the weak points for Hamilton in the last couple of years at Mercedes, although much of that might have to do with how hard their car was to drive.
Klien thinks Hamilton can unlock some of his ‘greatness’ if Ferrari manages to build a car that suits his aggressive braking driving style.
“I would never underestimate Charles. He’s very, very talented, very fast, especially on a one lap in qualifying, so he’s able to put the car up in the front of the grid,” said Klien.
“If Lewis still has this edge in qualifying, we have to find out. That made it a little bit more tricky for him this year in the races, just starting a little bit further back. But if the car suits him, if the car is competitive again, I think he has this extra bit of just greatness in him that made him this multiple, multiple world champion.”
Lewis Hamilton gives speech in Italian to Ferrari fans
Ferrari will mark the first time that Hamilton has gone outside of a British-based team in his career, with him needing to adapt to the culture while he is in Italy.
It is expected that his engineer, Riccardo Adami, will speak to him in English on team radio as he did with Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel.
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Hamilton was recently seen speaking Italian to some fans ahead of the season, reading a speech on his phone and receiving plenty of encouragement.
The seven-time world champion is clearly taking to being a Ferrari driver well, knowing how much aura the team holds in motorsport and the chance to become one of its most iconic drivers if he achieves success.
