Lewis Hamilton has officially traded silver for red as his Ferrari contract comes into effect after the turn of the new year.
Hamilton signed his £39m-a-year contract with Ferrari back in February, even before he stepped into the W15 at Mercedes for the 2024 season – his final year with the Silver Arrows.
The seven-time world champion has been with Mercedes throughout his F1 career, dating back to his debut season with McLaren in 2007. In 2025, he will embark on a new adventure with Ferrari as he searches for his eighth world title.
Hamilton already feels at ‘home’ with Ferrari after he greeted the mechanics in Abu Dhabi in Italian ahead of his move. Ferrari have scheduled a test for Hamilton at the Fiorano Circuit later this month, but they have other alternative dates planned in February if poor weather prevents January’s test from happening.
Lewis Hamilton shares Ayrton Senna’s views about finishing his F1 career at Ferrari
By joining Ferrari, the Brit joins an elite club of world champions to have driven for the Maranello outfit, including Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.
His idol Ayrton Senna never got the chance to drive with Ferrari, but journalist Ralf Bach says Hamilton shares the same views as the Brazilian about wanting to finish his career with F1’s most successful team.
Senna won his three titles with McLaren in 1988, 1990 and 1991 and also drove with the likes of Lotus and Williams, but he had always dreamed of racing with Ferrari.
READ MORE: All to know about Ayrton Senna including Alain Prost rivalry and Imola crash
Luca di Montezemolo previously claimed Senna wanted to end his career at Ferrari and revealed that the team had been in talks with the Brazilian before he tragically lost his life at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
As Hamilton accomplishes his dream of racing with Ferrari, Bach says that Senna would have done the same had he been afforded the chance.
“Hamilton is a figure of attraction in a positive sense and Ferrari was a figure of attraction for him,” he said via the F1-insider.com YouTube channel.
“He thought probably like his big idol Senna, who even if the fatal accident in Imola hadn’t happened, would have ended his career at Ferrari. that plays a lot of roles.
“I think he wanted to change again, you said he’s only driven Mercedes so far, as far as engines are concerned. He wanted to get to know something different at the end of his career and if you something different in Formula 1, then it makes sense to go to Ferrari.”
Can Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes woes behind him at Ferrari?
Hamilton won six of his seven drivers’ titles with Mercedes between 2014 and 2020 and broke numerous records, but the Brit struggled to find consistency during the ground effect era.
The 39-year-old grabbed two wins in 2024 at Silverstone and Spa – his first wins since 2021 – as he recorded the lowest finish of his career with seventh in the standings.
His difficulties with Mercedes last year have led to concerns that he will be unable to perform at Ferrari. Flavio Briatore ‘wouldn’t have signed’ Hamilton at Ferrari as he claims they already had a strong line-up in Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Leclerc will prove to be strong competition for the seven-time world champion given he is well-established with Ferrari and is one of the strongest drivers over one lap. Frederic Vasseur hinted the Ferrari drivers will be allowed to race each other in 2025, setting up an exciting fight between the two this season.
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