At the end of 2024, after 12 seasons, 84 joint victories, 69 other podium finishes, and six world championships, Lewis Hamilton said goodbye to Mercedes to continue his Formula 1 career with Ferrari from 2025.
The Englishman, who celebrated his 40th birthday on Tuesday, will have a long-awaited but not easy change of environment. The driver, who will be staying in the former home of founder Enzo Ferrari in Maranello, will have to get to know countless members of a team from a different culture, as well as his technical background.
The latter also includes testing – before the official winter practice in 2025, of course, you will only be able to drive an older model, according to the rules no more than 2023. However, this will be maximized, at least the Italian edition of Motorsport.com knows that Hamilton will drive a red car next week at Ferrari’s home track, Fiorano, and towards the end of the month in Barcelona.
Ferrari is said to have booked four days at the home of the Spanish Grand Prix – according to the current rules, it will be able to drive a total of 1,000 km during this time with an older model that is at least two years old.
It can be suspected that in addition to getting to know the team and its future race engineer, testing the seat position will also be an important aspect – according to Italian reports, the team had to move the seat further back on its new F1 model of 2025, currently marked with the type code 667, in connection with Hamilton’s arrival.
It can be seen that Ferrari is concentrating on Hamilton before the official unveiling (February 19) and the winter testing on 25-26, even to the detriment of Charles Leclerc, who has been leading with them since 2019 – another question, of course, is that the now very experienced Monaco driver is not also wants such help, and it seems that he also welcomes English with an open and friendly attitude.
“I don’t think the dynamic within the team will change. I also have a good relationship with him. Obviously different (mint Carlos Sainzcal)because I haven’t spent that much time with Lewis, but we both respect each other’s achievements so far. We’ve been good so far. Of course, we belong to different age groups, but apart from racing, we have quite a few common interests. So I don’t think the competition will be any different” said Leclerc a few weeks ago.
Source: www.vezess.hu
