Lewis Hamilton has realised his and also Mick Schumacher’s dream by joining Ferrari
with the Briton set to make his debut racing in red at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix.
The start of the 2025 Formula 1 season is now mere days away, with the lights due to go out in Melbourne on March 16. The Australian GP marks the first race of a term for the first time since 2019 and will see many drivers debut with new teams, including Hamilton with Ferrari.
Hamilton has dominated headlines with his move to Maranello, but the F1 driver market was a hive of activity throughout 2024. Red Bull have a new racer in Liam Lawson, Mercedes put rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Hamilton’s car and Ferrari exile Carlos Sainz joined Williams.
Mick Schumacher cannot pick who’ll win Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari power struggle
Hamilton is still ‘pinching myself’ about joining Ferrari, with his switch from the Silver Arrows the culmination of a childhood dream to race in red. The 40-year-old registered his F1 debut back in 2007 with McLaren, and he went on to drive for Mercedes from the 2013 campaign.
Becoming the Tifosi’s latest hero comes with some massive challenges, as Hamilton’s bid for an eighth F1 drivers’ championship now includes chasing Ferrari’s first title since 2007. He is even now competing directly with one of if not the fastest qualifiers in F1 in Charles Leclerc.
READ MORE: Seven best drives of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes career before move to Ferrari
The internal fight for power brewing at Maranello between Hamilton and Leclerc is one that Schumacher feels is too tight to call ahead of the campaign commencing. The son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher even feels it is still ‘unusual’ to see Hamilton in red.
Schumacher told Speedweek: “It’s unusual to see him in red but I hope he has fun and feels comfortable. It will certainly be interesting within the team against Charles Leclerc.
“It’s difficult to say from the outside who will have the upper hand, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for both of them.”
Lewis Hamilton may not win his eighth F1 drivers’ title with Ferrari in 2025
Hamilton is realising Schumacher’s dream to race for Ferrari like the Alpine WEC driver’s dad between 1996 and 2006. The Briton will now hope to taste even a smidge of the success the German tasted at Maranello, as Hamilton bids to eclipse Schumacher Sr with his eighth title.
Schumacher Sr won five of his seven championships at Ferrari, while also becoming the only driver to ever lift five in a row so far – a feat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen can match in 2025 – between 2000 and 2004. Hamilton won four titles in a row for Mercedes from 2017 to 2020.
But Helmut Marko ranks Ferrari behind McLaren and Red Bull in his early pecking order after F1 testing in Bahrain. The Briton will even have to beat Leclerc, who is a part of the furniture at Ferrari after joining their driver academy in 2016 before racing for the F1 crew since 2019.
