Lewis Hamilton had a farewell tour of the F1 calendar in 2024 after announcing that he would be leaving Mercedes before last year’s campaign began.
It wasn’t the final season that he would have wanted with the Silver Arrows, despite Hamilton’s emotional victory at Silverstone and inheriting a win from George Russell at Spa.
Instead, he spent much of the season watching Ferrari outperform Mercedes as they narrowly missed out on the Constructors’ Championship title.
Now, Hamilton will feel he’s in the right place to challenge McLaren and Red Bull as he looks to win an eighth world championship.
One of the drivers who will be hoping to spoil Hamilton’s start to life at Maranello is Lando Norris.
Norris was the latest driver to try and fail to stop Max Verstappen in 2024.
His wins in the Netherlands and Singapore were outstanding and showed that he’s got the talent to be a future F1 champion.
But Verstappen is relentless and Hamilton could tell him and now both drivers are hoping they’ll finally be the people to stop the Dutchman winning five titles on the spin.
Formula 1 fans waited with bated breath to see if and when Ferrari would post about Hamilton’s rumoured arrival on Monday.
Fans reacted to Hamilton being spotted outside of Ferrari’s HQ before an official portrait was unveiled.
Hamilton: “There are some days that you know you’ll remember forever and today, my first as a Ferrari driver, is one of those days.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have achieved things in my career I never thought possible, but part of me has always held on to that dream of racing in red. I couldn’t be happier to realise that dream today.
“Today we start a new era in the history of this iconic team, and I can’t wait to see what story we will write together.”
Damon Hill reacted to seeing Hamilton at Ferrari for the first time while F1TV broadcaster Ruth Buscombe Divey wrote: “Sir Lewis! Welcome home.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton’s McLaren rival Norris replied to his post and referring to his outfit, simply said: “Don.”
It’s impossible to know which team will have the fastest car in 2025 just yet.
However, with new regulations just around the corner next year, it’s hard to imagine any team will completely revolutionise their cars over the winter.
If that’s the case, then Norris and Hamilton could feasibly be fighting for the title this year which would be a treat for British fans.
Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri will have something to say about that in identical cars, while George Russell at Mercedes could be a third Brit to take into account.
All of these drivers will be well aware that despite Red Bull’s struggles towards the end of last year, Verstappen is probably still the favourite for the title.
Nico Rosberg has backed Norris to win the championship, but even he will be aware that you can’t underestimate the 27-year-old, particularly if he’s given the chance to ruin Hamilton’s party.
