Lewis Hamilton once hinted that new team Ferrari drew up ‘tactics’ to spin him out

Lewis Hamilton has spent much of his Formula 1 career competing with Ferrari. But the next time he lines up on the starting grid at the Australian Grand Prix, he’ll be racing in their colours.

When Hamilton made his F1 debut in 2007, McLaren and Ferrari battled for the title. The British team were even thrown out of the championship because they were found to be spying on their rivals.

Kimi Raikkonen prevailed that year, finishing a point ahead of Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in one of the most remarkable title battles ever. A year later, Hamilton got his revenge, albeit over Raikkonen’s teammate, Felipe Massa.

Nearly a decade later, Hamilton was enjoying a period of dominance with Mercedes. Ferrari tried to dethrone him, led by four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel was a legitimate contender in both 2017 and 2018 but fell short of toppling the dynasty. The Scuderia are now enduring a 16-year drought.

Hamilton has fulfilled a career-long dream by moving to Ferrari. He leaves Mercedes on good terms, but his relationship with his old colleagues will no doubt be tested next year.

How Lewis Hamilton reacted to Ferrari collision at 2018 British Grand Prix

Ahead of his home race at Silverstone in 2018, Hamilton was just a point behind Vettel in the standings. Ferrari were 10 clear of Mercedes in the constructors’.

Vettel outpaced Hamilton in the first two segments of qualifying, but the crowd favourite put together an excellent Q3 lap to take pole position. However, his lead would barely last a few seconds as the German driver made a much cleaner start.

By the time Hamilton arrived at the first major braking zone, he’d fallen to third behind teammate Valtteri Bottas. Raikkonen, now in his second spell at Ferrari, looked to make a move on the inside but locked up and tagged driver number 44.

After spinning round, he dropped back to the field and had to mount a comeback drive. A stirring effort ended in second place, just 2.2 seconds behind Vettel.

A dejected Hamilton missed the podium interviews afterwards, but when he did speak to Sky Sports F1, he implicitly made a serious accusation. Raikkonen received a 10-second penalty for the incident.

“Interesting tactics I would say from this side but we’ll do what we can to fight them,” Hamilton said. Mercedes would later clarify that, in their view, Raikkonen had not taken Hamilton out deliberately, and the driver himself retracted his comments.

When Lewis Hamilton made one Ferrari employee cry his eyes out

Ferrari will have to brush this baggage to one side when Hamilton arrives in the early part of next year. But they had to do the same with Vettel when he joined.

Vettel was involved in two epic title scraps with Alonso, first in 2010 and then in 2012. Both went to the final race, with the Spaniard losing out.

Neither finale could match the 2008 Brazilian GP, when Hamilton passed Timo Glock at the final corner to deny Felipe Massa on home soil. Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley cried ‘uncontrollably’ for around an hour afterwards.

Hamilton is already learning Italian as he tries to ingratiate himself with the Ferrari staff. He’s spent his entire career at British-based teams, so he’ll have to adjust to a new culture.