Key Lewis Hamilton questions answered as the seven-time champion moves to Ferrari

F1 Correspondent & Presenter

Lawrence Barretto
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Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari

Seven-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton has embarked on a new chapter in his career after joining Ferrari. Here is all the key information about the Briton's early days with the historic team as he gears up for his latest F1 adventure...

When will Hamilton first drive a Ferrari?

Hamilton’s first Grand Prix weekend in red may not come until 14-16 March but he has already been behind the wheel as part of his first weeks with the team.

As part of his “immersion programme” to help him get used to life at the Scuderia in the build-up to the season, Hamilton was first pictured at Maranello on January 20 and later wrote on social media that his first day was one he would “remember forever”.

READ MORE: 'One of the best feelings of my life' – Hamilton reflects on 'special' first Ferrari drive

Just two days later, the seven-time World Champion completed his first laps in a Ferrari F1 car, taking to the squad’s Fiorano track in an SF-23. Following an installation lap on wet tyres during a foggy morning at the circuit, Hamilton then bolted on the slick tyres and completed a total of 30 laps during the test.

The 40-year-old later spoke of his emotions over the milestone moment, commenting: “I’ve been lucky enough to have many firsts in my career, from the first test to the first race, podium, win and championship, so I wasn’t sure how many more firsts I had but driving a Scuderia Ferrari HP car for the first time this morning, was one of the best feelings of my life.”

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Hamilton got behind the wheel of a Ferrari F1 car for the first time at the Fiorano track on January 22

Hamilton next embarked on another test run behind the wheel of a 2023-spec Prancing Horse at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on January 28. The Briton suffered a crash on day two of this private test, though Ferrari were not believed to be concerned and considered the ‘off’ part of the process for a driver getting up to speed with a new team and exploring the limits of his new machinery.

Under the rules of TPC (Testing of Previous cars), Hamilton’s mileage will be capped as the regulations state that race drivers can only be used for 1000km of running. But the British driver will get more time behind the wheel and continue to get used to the team’s working practices via Pirelli tyre testing.

The Italian team are due to test for Pirelli during the first week of February at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain.

Then, like everyone, he’ll get 1.5 days of running in the 2025-spec machine across three days of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit in the Sakhir desert.

READ MORE: From world champions to super-subs – How Ferrari’s other British drivers fared as Hamilton makes his move

To boost his seat time, Ferrari also have the option to use a demonstration day, where running is capped at 15km for current cars and 50km for cars two years old or more, or a filming day capped at 200km with a current car to give Hamilton more mileage.

And while it’s not as good as running on track, boss Fred Vasseur has already said Hamilton will get plenty of laps in their state-of-the-art simulator – which is the next best thing to real seat time.

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - DECEMBER 08: Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur looks on, on

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has said Hamilton will get plenty of laps in the team's simulator

What will he be doing at Maranello?

It probably felt like the first day at a new school for Hamilton when he strolled into Maranello for the first time as a Ferrari driver.

Aside from finding his way round the new office, the nearby Fiorano facility and learning hundreds of new names and faces, he’ll want to start adjusting to how Ferrari work as a race team.

READ MORE: Stunning wins, breathtaking battles and epic fashion moments – 40 times Lewis Hamilton showed he was an F1 icon

While F1 teams operate in similar ways, they all have subtle differences depending on the culture, the size of the team, the status of the operation (works or independent) – and it is acclimatising to those subtleties that will be key.

Hamilton is a details guy. During his time at Mercedes, even when not at the race track, he would always be sending emails and Whatsapps and making calls to his engineering team looking at ways to be better and faster. He’ll no doubt have many questions – and that means he needs face time with the key people.

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Hamilton has already been soaking up the atmosphere at Maranello

There will be multiple meetings with boss Vasseur – who he has known for decades having driven for him in junior formulae – and Deputy Team Principal Jerome d’Ambrosio, who he briefly worked with at Mercedes.

The Briton will also spend a chunk of his time with the engineering team, which will be his bubble at race weekends. And of course he’ll spend time in the race bay to get his seat fit and generally get comfortable in his new car.

There’ll be some promotional and marketing work to be done as well. Signing Hamilton is a coup for Ferrari and they’ll want to make the most of the association. That means he’ll be needed for social media, digital content shoots and commitments for merchandising and commercial partners.

Who will be Hamilton's race engineer?

Hamilton needs a new race engineer following the end of a 12-year partnership with Pete “Bono” Bonnington that yielded a remarkable 84 Grands Prix wins and six World Championships. The new voice in the Briton's ear will be Riccardo Adami at Ferrari.

BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 01: Riccardo Adami, Race Engineer at Ferrari talks with Carlos Sainz of

Riccardo Adami was Race Engineer for Carlos Sainz and previously Sebastian Vettel

The Italian engineered Carlos Sainz for the last four years and previously was race engineer for four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Before joining Ferrari, Adami worked with Vettel at Toro Rosso (now named Racing Bulls), plus Vitantonio Liuzzi, Sebastien Buemi and Daniel Ricciardo.

READ MORE: The 2025 Formula 1 calendar in full

How long is Hamilton's Ferrari deal?

Hamilton signed a multi-year contract, which means he will be at Ferrari for at least two seasons. There are some suggestions that deal is for three years, which is the length of contract he had pursued at Mercedes before choosing Ferrari.

That means he’ll be racing at the team in 2025 and for at least the first season of the new regulations, which are introduced in 2026 and will see new aerodynamic rules sit alongside sweeping power unit changes that include the use of 100% sustainable fuel and a higher focus on electrical power.

End of season interview with Fred Vasseur

Can he win another title with Ferrari?

That is the million-dollar question. Hamilton will think so, otherwise he wouldn’t have made the leap to Formula 1’s most famous team.

The Briton wants an eighth world title and Ferrari want a first World Championship since 2008.

He joins the Italian squad at a good time, with Ferrari fighting for the Constructors’ Championship until the final race of the season last year before missing out by just 14 points. That was a huge step forward considering they ended up 454 points behind the winners in 2023.

A lot will depend on whether Ferrari can continue that momentum and give Hamilton a car to challenge at the sharp end – and how much of a threat his highly-rated team mate Charles Leclerc, who enjoyed his best season ever last year, poses.

It will also be down to Hamilton to rediscover his qualifying form, which appeared to desert him last year, and continue the strong pace he showed in race trim in 2024.

READ MORE: Vasseur responds to Hamilton’s 'not fast anymore' concerns ahead of Ferrari arrival

Who was the last Ferrari driver's champion?

Kimi Raikkonen was Ferrari’s last world champion way back in 2007. The Finn came out of the bushes to snatch the championship at the death in Brazil as then McLaren team mates Hamilton and Fernando Alonso missed out.

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