Lewis Hamilton’s life at Ferrari has officially begun and he will be hoping it will be a successful stint.
Hamilton confirmed his move to Ferrari in February last year. After almost a year of waiting, the seven-time champion has finally put on the team’s red colours after 12 years at Mercedes.
Hamilton completed his first test with Ferrari at the Fiorano Circuit on Wednesday, with over 1,000 Tifosi turning up to watch the historic moment.
The Brit’s transfer to F1’s most successful team is arguably the biggest move in the sport’s history. This is evidenced by the fact Hamilton’s first picture at Ferrari is the most liked F1-related picture of all time – surpassing his teammate Charles Leclerc’s post from his win at Monza last season.
By joining Ferrari, Hamilton joins an elite club of champions who have raced for the Maranello outfit, including Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.
But after having the worst season of his career in 2024, many are concerned the Brit will not be able to perform at Ferrari – and he certainly cannot afford to make one ‘big mistake’ another F1 legend made while with the team.
Lewis Hamilton cannot afford to make Gerhard Berger’s ‘big mistake’ of not learning Italian
As it goes, to drive for Ferrari is to represent an entire nation. If drivers can make an impact and embrace the culture, they will be adored by the Tifosi.
A key way to win the fans over is by learning Italian. This is something the likes of Schumacher, Vettel and Hamilton’s teammate Leclerc all did while at Ferrari and were subsequently able to hold a stronger connection with the Maranello faithful.
READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family
One driver who did not learn the language was Gerhard Berger, and speaking on the Beyond The Grid Podcast, the Austrian deeply regretted not doing so.
Hamilton must ensure he does not make the same ‘big mistake’ as Berger did as, for the 65-year-old, to speak with Ferrari directly in Italian was a ‘great thing’.
“I regret very much that [I] just didn’t do what I had to do, to go and study Italian,” he said. “Because to talk with them direct, it would be the great thing. But I decided not to.
“That was a big mistake because as Austrians, and I’m just a couple kilometres from the border, we are very close to Italians. Our culture fits very well with the Italian culture and we are all spending holidays there and so on.
“So, I think I fitted very well in this environment and I always had a feeling they loved me and I always loved them.
“Everything, the restaurants, the way how they talked, the way how they dressed, the way how they built cars. I just felt always very close to this culture.
“In all my career, I could just never say that they let me down. They’ve always been behind me in good times, bad times”.
Lewis Hamilton is already making big steps to avoid Gerhard Berger’s error
In his first week as a Ferrari driver, Hamilton is already taking steps to establish a connection early with his new team.
Riccardo Adami is set to be the Brit’s race engineer at Ferrari. Hamilton has asked Vettel about Adami – who was his engineer from 2015 to 2020 – as he looks to create a bond similar to the one he had with Peter Bonnington at Mercedes.
The 40-year-old is also making the effort to speak in Italian to his new colleagues. Hamilton greeted the Ferrari mechanics in Italian at the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi.
He was also heard conversing in Italian to the employees at the factory in Maranello and to the fans who came to watch him test the SF-23 on Wednesday. It appears that Hamilton is already looking to make an impression on Ferrari and embrace their culture.
Predictably, expectations are high for 2025 with Ferrari fans demanding the world championship from Hamilton. If the Brit can get accustomed to his new surroundings, he stands a great chance of winning his fourth title.
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