Lewis Hamilton has completed his first outing as a Ferrari driver during a testing of previous car (TPC) at the team’s Fiorano test track.
The seven-time world champion has been at Maranello all week as he begins work with his new team, making the move after 12 seasons with Mercedes. Following multiple meetings with the various departments, Hamilton was pictured in his new colors on Tuesday night and then released his 2025 helmet design — a return to his iconic yellow used earlier in his career — on Wednesday morning before his first run at Fiorano.
A striking yellow to complete the 2025 look
pic.twitter.com/K9rmYWf9t1
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) January 22, 2025
Amid early morning fog, Hamilton took to the track a 09:16am local time in Ferrari’s 2023 car — the SF-23 — completing early installation laps on wet tires before switching to slicks later in the morning.
With hundreds of fans in attendance trying to catch a glimpse of Hamilton behind the wheel of a Ferrari for the first time, the test plays an important role in the 40-year-old’s preparations for the new season.
Hamilton has only ever driven Mercedes-powered cars in his Formula 1 career, so will need to adapt to any new ways of working from Ferrari’s technical team. Power unit settings that can be changed from the steering wheel can differ significantly from one manufacturer to another, as can drivability and mode options.
The test will also allow Hamilton to test his seating position and comfort, in order to iron out any issues ahead of the official pre-season test in Bahrain next month. Drivers only get a day and a half of running each during the Feb. 26-28 test, and teams can’t afford to lose track time during that week due to installation issues.
Although Hamilton is able to test a two-year-old car, he is limited to four days and a total of 1000km of such running during the season as he is one of Ferrari’s race drivers. As a team, Ferrari can carry out 20 days of TPC running in total in any calendar year.
Interest in Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has been massive, particularly in Italy, as he looks to secure a record-breaking eighth drivers’ championship to move clear of Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher.
