Hamilton has undertaken his first factory visit and tests as a Ferrari driver after his long-anticipated move from Mercedes, with only five weeks to go until he and the rest of the Formula 1 grid will start the season again.
The seven-time World Champion’s move to Ferrari has been the subject of much intrigue up and down the paddock, after 12 seasons and six of his seven titles to date having been won at Mercedes.
He made the switch having long harboured an ambition to drive for Ferrari, with this being the first time in his Formula 1 career he will have driven without Mercedes power.
Hamilton will be up against a younger but still experienced driver within Ferrari in Charles Leclerc, and seven-time Grand Prix winner Montoya predicted it will take time for the Briton to settle in at Maranello.
Once he does, however, he believes Hamilton will have the capacity to overcome his team-mate and potentially the rest of the field.
“Lewis is mature enough to appreciate that in the short-term he is going to struggle a little bit, learning the Ferrari thing,” Montoya told Instant Casino.
“Charles is going to feel like he’s got the upper hand. But give it about six or seven races, and if the car is competitive, Lewis is going to win everything.”
After taking in two TPC [Testing of a Previous Car] outings with Ferrari alongside tyre testing with Pirelli, Hamilton posted on social media that he is “feeling right at home” with the Scuderia.
His next on-track outing will come with Leclerc as Ferrari shake down their 2025 challenger, the SF-25, for the first time in a behind-closed-doors run at Ferrari’s in-house test track, Fiorano, after their official car launch.
