Lewis Hamilton will arrive at Ferrari’s factory at Maranello in the coming days to prepare for the 2025 Formula 1 season and anticipation is growing around how the sport’s most successful driver will fare when racing for the sport’s most successful team.
After winning six world championships with Mercedes, Hamilton will hope to emulate Ferrari’s greatest Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher by winning a world championship wearing their iconic red racing overalls.
If he does so then he’ll become the only driver in the sport’s history to win eight titles and help end a Drivers’ Championship drought for Ferrari that has existed since Kimi Raikkonen pipped Hamilton in his debut F1 season in 2007.
There are plenty of obstacles in Hamilton’s way before that’s possible, with 19 other drivers on the grid hoping to spoil his debut campaign with the Italian team.
Ferrari have already planned Hamilton’s first simulator session, but more mystery surrounds his first official run in one of their Formula 1 cars.
Hamilton is set to test in Barcelona and could take part in a Pirelli tyre test in Magny-Cours this month too.
However, his first run will take place at Ferrari’s private track at Fiorano.
Journalist Jon Noble was speaking on The Race Podcast and explained why there’s some secrecy surrounding when Hamilton will jump into the car for the first time.
Noble was asked about Hamilton’s upcoming first Ferrari test and said: “This is interesting and this is the big question on everyone’s lips all winter and the problem that Ferrari have got is that they don’t want a hundred thousand Tifosi marching down to Fiorano to watch Lewis Hamilton’s first test.
“Now, the track…you can’t lock the track away.
“There’s a massive bridge that runs over the circuit, so if Ferrari put their hands and said, ‘On this date, Lewis Hamilton will be driving at this time’, then I think the road bridge would be packed with people, [there would be] chaos with the police and it would become troublesome.”
Ferrari have already denied details about Hamilton’s first test to try and avoid thousands of fans descending upon Fiorano.
However, there’s only a small window of time that Ferrari can organise runs for both Hamilton and Leclerc before heading to pre-season running.
This will already indicate Ferrari’s die-hard fans of when they should descend upon the track.
Excitement ahead of the 2025 season is quickly building even though the season doesn’t officially start until the middle of March when the F1 circus flies to the other side of the world for the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton announced his decision to race for Ferrari before the 2024 season even started, making it a risky call considering he didn’t know whether Mercedes would suddenly get their act together.
When asked about the move last year, Hamilton said, via the F1 website: “In the summer we signed, and obviously I, at that time, saw my future with Mercedes. But an opportunity came up in the new year and I decided to take it.
“I feel like… it was obviously the hardest decision that I think I’ve ever had to make. Obviously I’ve been with Mercedes for, I think it’s like 26 years they’ve supported me, and we’ve had an absolutely incredible journey together.
“We’ve created history within the sport, and it’s something I take a lot of pride in and I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved.
“But I think ultimately I’m writing my story and I felt like it was time to start a new chapter.”
The last time Hamilton decided to open a new chapter, it led to six Drivers’ Championships and eight Constructors’ Championships for Mercedes.
Ferrari will hope he can deliver just a fraction of that success in 2025 and beyond.
