Lewis Hamilton may have to wear Ferrari gear at every race this season. The seven-time world champion typically donned his own outfits when he arrived in the F1 paddock during his time at Mercedes.
But it emerged this week that Ferrari have strict sponsorship rules, obliging their drivers to display their logos on entry to the track. It seems not even Hamilton is exempt.
The 40-year-old took part in his first official test sessions in red this week. Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both ended up in the top three for overall lap times, though they didn’t compete for top honours on a low-key day three.
Hamilton has been ticking off the milestones in the past couple of months. He drove a Ferrari car for the first time in January, and around four weeks before he appeared in his race suit at the F1 75 launch.
With testing complete, he’s now preparing for his full debut at the Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton has been studying Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, who won within their first two Ferrari starts.
The publicity around the Briton was at odds with the ethos at Maranello. Fred Vasseur wants Hamilton to be as focused as possible as he tries to adapt.
Kym Illman says Lewis Hamilton ‘moved behind a barrier’ to avoid photos, he’s ‘100% focused’
Speaking on his YouTube channel, F1 photographer Kym Illman explained that Hamilton had been trying to stay away from the cameras. On Friday in particular, he made himself ‘hard to find’.
Hamilton was photographed talking to Carlos Sainz, with the Drive to Survive crew dangling a microphone overhead. They agreed to continue their conversation in private.
He appeared in the press conference on Friday, which made for plenty of pictures. But aside from that, most of the images show Hamilton either wearing a helmet or attempting to cover his face.
Illman put this down to the mindset of the 105-win driver. He’s trying to steer clear of the media circus, aware that it could compromise his performances.
“I had a chat with one of his management team and asked if he was going to be wearing any fashionable gear into the track this year,” Illman said. “And the response was ‘we are here to race’.
“This week, he’s worn nothing but Ferrari team kit. Although this morning [Friday], he must have snuck in very early because he was hard to find the whole day.
“If he doesn’t wear fashionable gear on the first day of the Australian Grand Prix, trust me, he’s in Ferrari kit the whole season. In fact, photographing Lewis yesterday was very tricky.
“There were very few pictures of Lewis Hamilton without him having a helmet on, without him having his hand anywhere near his face. I got one picture, which was an absolute fluke, but very shortly after that he moved behind a barrier, as if to say ‘no more’.
“In my mind, Lewis is 100% focused on winning this championship.”
Look away Lewis Hamilton – this is where the paddock thinks Ferrari stand before Australian Grand Prix
Chairman John Elkann made an unusual visit to the Ferrari garage during testing. That didn’t help Hamilton, because the visit naturally attracted attention.
Karun Chandhok says the Ferrari hierarchy last showed this much interest when they signed Michael Schumacher in 1996. On the other side of the garage, Leclerc may be enjoying the reduced attention.
The overriding feeling on Friday night was that Ferrari have work to do. They have shown flashes of real promise but don’t appear a match for McLaren just yet.
In fact, the ‘paddock chatter’ places Ferrari fourth in the pecking order, behind Red Bull and Mercedes. It would no doubt be disheartening for Hamilton if he ended up as low as seventh or eighth on the Melbourne grid.
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