Hamilton’s move to Ferrari opens new possibilities

“They’ve got absolutely every ingredient they need to win a world championship,” Lewis Hamilton said of his new Ferrari team. “It’s just about putting all the pieces together.” (Reddit via r/formula1 JosephPetrassi)

By Luke Smith / The Athletic

When Lewis Hamilton put on his Ferrari racing suit for the first time before his maiden test for the team last month, he needed a moment to adjust to his new look.

While putting on a set of overalls is automatic for racing drivers, wearing the Ferrari red is an honor bestowed on very few. And after 12 years in the silver and black of Mercedes, this was a big change for Hamilton.

The excitement and anticipation he felt had been long in the making. But after his first test in the 2025 car, it is a reality.

Such wonder is something only Ferrari can stir. No matter how many world championships or races you win, the feeling of being a part of Formula Ones most famed, successful team is unmatched. It is what made Hamilton want to make the move and why he has radiated excitement since starting in Maranello, Italy, in mid-January.

As he nears the new season and the official start of his next chapter, Hamilton’s enthusiasm has shown zero signs of subsiding. After a sobering final year with Mercedes that appeared to sap some of the fizz from his love for Formula One, Hamilton, who was often hamstrung by an underperforming car, has a fresh spring in his step.

More important, he is hopeful that an eighth world championship, which he came within one lap of winning in 2021, will be within his sights once again at Ferrari. (He and Michael Schumacher currently share the drivers’ record with seven titles apiece.)

“They’ve got absolutely every ingredient they need to win a world championship,” Hamilton said. “It’s just about putting all the pieces together.”

Adjusting to a new environment is not something Hamilton has done a lot during his Formula One career.

Unlike some other journeymen Formula One drivers — on Tuesday, Carlos Sainz noted he has driven for half the grid in 10 years — Hamilton is moving to his third team. It will be the first time he has driven without Mercedes engines and the first time he is not racing for an English team.

“This step is huge,” Hamilton said Wednesday after his first test in Ferrari’s new car. “It couldn’t be any bigger.”

There has been plenty of adjustment, ranging from the vibration of the Ferrari engine behind him to the different steering wheel functions and processes. Hamilton has a new appreciation for drivers who have made those switches and been successful immediately, but he is embracing the change.

“Every day, I’m experiencing something new, which actually is really exciting,” he said.

That includes learning Italian. Ferrari conducts all of its meetings in English, but Hamilton started taking Italian lessons last year to interact better with his mechanics and engineers, like chit-chatting about life. He even gave a speech in Italian at Ferrari’s factory recently and is eager to immerse himself in Italian culture, including the food.

The effort Hamilton has made with his new colleagues has not gone unnoticed. On his first day visiting the factory, he tried to shake hands with all 1,500 team members. “He’s quite amazing with people,” said Jérôme d’Ambrosio, Ferrari’s new deputy team principal, who worked with Hamilton at Mercedes. “The team already loves him after the first day.”

Hamilton has also enjoyed many aspects that make Ferrari unique, such as having the entire team under one roof — Mercedes’ engine facility was a 40-minute drive from the Formula One team headquarters — and a test track on its doorstep.

Hamilton is also working well with his new teammate Charles Leclerc. While the pair had chatted, it was only upon Hamilton’s official start at Ferrari that they could start working together. They also play chess; Hamilton is ahead in games, 3-2, according to Leclerc.

“The first weeks of collaboration between the two is mega-good,” Ferrari’s team principal, Fred Vasseur, said. “I’m not surprised at all. We are starting in very good shape now. The most important thing is to keep this relationship, to continue to work as a team and to push as a team.”

Vasseur said Hamilton was the perfect fit for Ferrari right now, while Leclerc thought the Briton was joining at the ideal point because the team’s mentality is stronger than ever under Vasseur’s leadership. No longer in a rebuild, the championship is a realistic goal for Ferrari.

“The fact Lewis has joined the team has been a big boost and has been amazing in so many ways,” Leclerc said. “But I feel like the team is very, very calm and very calm and very clear in what is the direction to work in and not getting too affected by everything that is going on around the team. That is extremely important and great to see.”

What matters most is how Hamilton performs when the new Formula One season begins and how Ferrari compares to the competition. The league has a preseason testing schedule this week in Sakhir, Bahrain. The first race is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 16.

Hamilton was adamant Ferrari had all the ingredients to win the world championship for the first time since 2008. The team fell 14 points short of the constructors’ crown last year, losing to McLaren. It was an incredibly fine margin, but a decisive one. Entering a season in which Vasseur expects four teams to be in contention for race wins, every last thousandth of a second will matter.

“It’s not a matter of changing the car completely or whatever,” Vasseur said. “If we are able to bring a small bit of performance on one or two topics, it’s already a huge step forward. And Lewis is coming with his own experience, with his own background. He will help the team to develop in every single area.”

Ferrari opted for one major design change with its 2025 car: switching from a push-rod suspension to a pull-rod design, believing it would clean up the airflow around the car and allow for greater aerodynamic development after it had exhausted all areas with last year’s model. Although the SF-25 is an evolution of last year’s model and the overall car concept remains the same, reducing the learning curve the team will go through, every single part is new.

Even if Hamilton has confidence in Ferrari’s title-winning ability, he noted just how fierce the competition is set to be this year. “It’s far too early to know what the year is going to be like,” Hamilton said. “What we do know is that it’s going to be very close between the top teams. We’ve not seen the other cars; we’ve not been on the track with the other cars.”

An eighth drivers’ title is the goal, but Hamilton’s appreciation for Ferrari runs deep and he knows how significant ending the team’s title drought will be. “That’s what I’m working toward,” he said. “I don’t think about the number eight. I’m thinking about the first championship that the team has won for some time.”

Hamilton knows how much hard work still lies ahead to get ready for the new season, but the spark he has rediscovered with this move to Ferrari is obvious from every interaction. It has given him a fresh lease on life in many ways. At 40, there is no sign he is thinking about how his Formula One career may end. He feels young and remains in peak physical condition. And this new project is only spurring him on.

“I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be,” Hamilton said. “It feels natural. It feels right.”