Lewis Hamilton sent his Ferrari colleagues into raptures by delivering a speech at the factory… in Italian.

Having called time on his record-breaking 12-season stint with Mercedes, Hamilton steps into a completely new and unique culture at Ferrari, effectively the Italian national team. And it is clear that his adaptation is progressing nicely.

Lewis Hamilton’s message to Ferrari translated

Urged to learn the Ferrari culture and Italian language by F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali – the former team principal of Ferrari – Hamilton displayed his work on that front when he addressed the Ferrari crew in Italian at their Maranello base, flanked by new team-mate Charles Leclerc and team boss Fred Vassuer.

Lewis Hamilton’s Italian is coming along nicely 🇮🇹🤌

(via guidoinslowmotion/IG) pic.twitter.com/v1Vhmo8tAn

— Autosport (@autosport) February 12, 2025

It is safe to say that Hamilton’s efforts were greatly appreciated, his speech triggering applause from the Ferrari camp from the get-go.

Translated to English, Hamilton said: “Hello everyone. Thank you for your warm welcome.

“I am happy to start this new adventure with you at Ferrari.

“It has always been my dream to be part of this team. I can’t wait to work with you.

“Thank you.”

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Hamilton is clearly putting in the hard graft outside of the car, while the same is true for in the cockpit, the seven-time World Champion having undertaken an intensive period of pre-season running, driving the SF-23 and an adapted SF-24, the latter as part of Pirelli 2026 tyre testing.

All taking place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – home of the Spanish Grand Prix – it was not an entirely smooth process for Hamilton, who suffered a crash on day two of a three-day Ferrari private test at the venue, causingLeclerc to miss his scheduled afternoon running.

But, while Hamilton has now used up his four permitted TPC [testing of previous car] days, he still has more track time to come before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, with Ferrari’s F1 2025 challenger – the SF-25 – to be presented at their Fiorano track on February 19 ahead of a shakedown run.

From there, it is on to pre-season testing in Bahrain, taking place from February 26-28.

And as Hamilton continues his work to get fully up to speed with Ferrari life, Leclerc has been urged by former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan to make his mark in these early stages against Formula 1’s most successful driver.

Leclerc – a graduate of the Ferrari Driver Academy – is going into his seventh season with the team.

“Leclerc is there now seven years. He knows everybody,” said Jordan on the Formula For Success podcast.

“He knows all the people and what to say, the language. He’s the darling of Maranello.

“However, he will be surprised. I think he had a certain way with him over Carlos Sainz.

“But, as far as I’m concerned, I think Lewis will hit the ground running… well, I think it will take him two or three races.

“I would urge Leclerc to get on his bike in the early stage because that’s when Leclerc is going to show certain amounts of dominance.”

Hamilton replaced four-time grand prix winner Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, the Spaniard relocating to Williams on a multi-year deal.

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