“There are some days that you know you’ll remember forever, and today, my first as a Ferrari driver, is one of those days,” Sir Lewis Hamilton said on his Instagram on Jan. 20 after a tour of Scuderia Ferrari’s facilities in Maranello, Italy.
During his initial visit, Hamilton met with Ferrari staff and leadership, including CEO Benedetto Vigna and executive chairman John Elkann. He also got the chance to interact with his new Italian fanbase, the infamous Tifosi — Ferrari fanatics. “Lewis is Ferrari,” Elkann told Italian media, “It is as if he has always been with Ferrari.”
Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari on Feb. 1, 2024, shocking the motorsport community after being the face of Mercedes AMG-Petronas F1 Team since 2013 and having won six of his seven world driver’s championships with the German team. After finishing his journey with them at the close of the 2024 season, he finally made his way into a Ferrari car last week.
Hamilton drove 30 test laps in Ferrari’s Fiorano track on Wednesday — a momentous occasion, which was live streamed by Sky Sports Italia and accompanied by dozens of fans gathered in the area to cheer him on. “When I started the car up and drove through that garage door, I had the biggest smile on my face,” Hamilton said of the occasion. “It reminded me of the very first time I tested a Formula 1 car.”
When Hamilton debuted in F1 in 2007, he missed out on winning the championship as a rookie by one point, only to take it the next year. As one of F1’s biggest figures, his move to the legendary team is under much scrutiny.
Ferrari has not won a championship, Constructors’ or Drivers’, since 2007, and Hamilton is not the first experienced world champion to join the team expecting to return the title to Maranello. Retired four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, currently a driver for Aston-Martin Aramco Formula One Team, both tried and failed to secure a title with Ferrari.
Hamilton himself has not won a championship since 2020, and he has only won two races since 2021. Both factors fuel detractors to besmirch his reputation and claim he no longer has what it takes to bring a title home.
“I think he’s lost an edge with age,” said F1 commentator and retired driver Martin Brundle. “Sometimes he gets in scuffles that he used to emerge out the front of, but he doesn’t now, or he’ll make a mistake in qualifying.”
Hamilton is the second-oldest driver in the F1 grid, having turned 40-years-old this January, but he remains steadfast in his commitment to win an eight championship and beat the all-time record he currently shares with Michael Schumacher — who won five of his titles with Ferrari. Brundle and the likes of him may think his wits are lessened and his skills rusty, but all Hamilton needed to get into contention for the World Driver’s Championship was a new coat of paint and a change of scenery.
The red Ferrari sporting the number 44 will be the one to watch in the upcoming 2025 season.
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