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INSIGHT: Hamilton's meticulous preparation as he gets to grips with his new Ferrari life
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Thirty-eight days after Lewis Hamilton first set foot in Maranello as an official Ferrari driver (and took the now iconic photo of him dressed in an all-black suit and coat outside Enzo Ferrari’s office, which broke the internet) the seven-time World Champion will get his first real taste of what kind of machinery he’ll have to fight with in 2025 when he takes part in the official three-day pre-season test in Bahrain.
It's been a whirlwind few weeks for the Briton, who came back to work earlier than usual to give himself as many minutes as possible acclimatising to his new team, having spent the last 12 years at rivals Mercedes.
READ MORE: Who’s driving on Day 1 of 2025 pre-season testing in Bahrain
That period began with an extensive meet and greet, which involved Hamilton working his way around every single department in Maranello – and shaking the hand of each and every employee (which equated to around 1,500 people).
A couple of days later came a sleepless night in his motorhome, parked adjacent to the farmhouse which housed Enzo Ferrari’s office. Hamilton tossed and turned all night, so excited was he about his first chance to test Ferrari machinery with 30 laps in a 2023-spec car at the team’s test track at Fiorano.
Hamilton posed for this now-iconic photo on his first day at Ferrari
The experience was everything he hoped for and more, fans cheering him on from the other side of the fences that run the perimeter of the track and his father, mother and stepmother also in town for the special occasion.
The location of his motorhome meant the early starts – he would be up and about at 7am local time, kicking his day off with running a few laps of the track – were slightly less painful given his morning commute was just a few metres. The motorhome has also been helpful in him making the most of his time.
READ MORE: 5 key things we need to find out at pre-season testing
He can switch between that base, the track and the team offices with ease, and slot in a working lunch in a relaxing environment in his motorhome with his new engineers to speed up the integration.
“Just to have this team all under one roof is quite a unique experience that I've not had before,” said Hamilton, whose previous team Mercedes had their engine base and aerodynamic HQ in separate locations.
“To have the track outside the factory is quite incredible. To be able to roll out our car and put it onto track in Fiorano, and also to just know about the history of this place as well, has been pretty incredible to see.”
Hamilton and Leclerc offer first reaction to driving 2025 Ferrari car
That short walk to work was particularly useful last Wednesday, as he and the team only landed from London just before 4am following the F1 75 Live event at The O2 event and he and team mate Charles Leclerc were only afforded an hour or two of sleep before their filming day and first run in the 2025 car began.
“Charles was in the car first but I told myself I’m going to make sure I’m up so Charles isn’t the only one taking the brunt of lack of sleep,” he said.
'I want people to know that I'm willing to go above and beyond...'
Hamilton is trying to leave no stone unturned in his bid to get comfortable in his new team. After years of getting to know everyone and building relationships at Mercedes, it’s been like starting a new school and hitting the reset button for Hamilton on joining Ferrari, which is why he’s keen on getting as much face time as he can with his new colleagues.
That integration also includes learning Italian through one-to-one lessons, building on the little he picked up when he used to race karts in the country as a teenager – and even if English is what is used to converse across the board. Already, he’s able to understand chunks of what is said when colleagues converse in Italian – and he’s able to have simple chats with his mechanics about their family and what they’ve been up to at the weekend.
“I guess I want people to know that I'm willing to go above and beyond to be able to blend in and to contribute to my fullest potential,” he said of learning Italian. “So I'm enjoying it and it's challenging to practice. It's definitely hard to always retain and remember the words.
“It's not easy to learn another language. But I'm slowly getting there. I think consistency is key, and that's why I really love being here at the factory, because I'm getting to practise more and more each day.”
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Hamilton is trying to leave no stone unturned in his bid to get comfortable in his new team
That bit of Italian will surely have helped when he crashed a Ferrari for the first time, during a two-day private test in Barcelona. Understandably, Hamilton was nervous about going back to the garage to face his mechanics but they were nothing but supportive.
They much preferred he found the limit in a private test as he got comfortable with the car – than when it mattered more in pre-season testing or a race weekend.
GALLERY: Cars hit the track for the first day of 2025 pre-season testing in Bahrain
'I'm actually feeling quite comfortable in the car...'
Hamilton faces a huge challenge getting to know his new Ferrari, which he’s already found operates in a “completely different” way to anything he’s ever driven.
“It's a really exciting experience,” he said. “This is something I've really enjoyed trying to wrap my mind around, particularly also just in settings and the terminology they use and the different ways that they can set up a car. That's taken some getting used to, for sure.”
He added: “I don't feel that currently I'm having to change my driving style too much. I'm actually feeling quite comfortable in the car and just taking one step at a time.
“I hope we'll see as we get further down the line at the real race circuits that we're going to just how much aligns and how much change I might have to do. The key is to be open-minded and to be dynamic. I think, luckily, with my experience, I should be able to do that.”
Hamilton takes part in the first session of pre-season testing
While it’s likely that he will continue to use his motorhome as a base whenever he’s at Maranello, given the time efficiencies and comfort it delivers, he is looking at getting a place in Milan for during the season after deciding against a place locally following a few viewings. Even if Milan is a two-hour commute to Maranello, it offers a base nearby to friends in the city for company, rather than bouncing around a place near Maranello, cut off from his network.
On the morning of his first test, Hamilton headed to the restroom before doing his first run – and he found himself double-taking when he looked in the mirror and saw himself in the famous red overalls of Ferrari. It means so much to him to be a Ferrari driver – and that mirror moment has been just one of ‘pinch himself’ instances since he joined F1’s most famous team.
TEAM PREVIEW: Can Ferrari finally end their title drought with star signing Hamilton?
'It really is like a new life'
Hamilton says he’s invigorated by the challenge Ferrari presents. He looks reborn and as excited for this next chapter with Ferrari as he was making his debut with McLaren and starting a new era with Mercedes.
He’s long been known for spending long days at the track, among the first to arrive and last to leave – and that has been the case at Ferrari, too. Though what’s different to the last few years is that he’s finding he doesn’t want to leave each night. The excitement for this project is real.
“I never thought at this point in my career I would have so much excitement being at work…wanting to be at work early, wanting to put even extra levels of work in to achieve the dream - but here I am,” he said.
“It really is like a new life. I just felt this new wave of life and energy. I guess I've received that from everyone here. From the fans, from the way people have reacted to me joining. Of course, you've got a few people that will say a negative thing here and there. But it doesn't touch what we're doing and what we're working towards.”
Hamilton has been left feeling invigorated by his Ferrari move
While Hamilton has a lot of names to learn at Ferrari, there are some familiar faces which are already helping him settle in. The 40-year-old has been friends with chairman John Elkann for years – and has long conversed with him regularly. He’s also been in weekly contact with boss Fred Vasseur for the past couple of decades, having raced for the Frenchman’s team in feeder series GP2 (now known as Formula 2).
He’s also knows recent recruits Jerome d’Ambrosio and Loic Serra, who are Deputy Team Principal and Head of Chassis Performance Engineering respectively, from his time at Mercedes.
And from the minute he knew he would be joining Ferrari alongside Leclerc, Hamilton has focused on enhancing his relationship with his new team mate.
TECH ANALYSIS: The 'significant changes' that are giving Ferrari confidence in their 2025 car
“Charles and I get on really well,” he told me. “We generally have for quite some time. When I knew I was coming here, and also being the older driver, I tried to go out of my way to make sure we spoke more often, and there’s actually quite a few things we have in common.
“We’ve got a great rapport – he’s working incredible hard. It’s great to see his work ethic and learn from him and his knowledge of what he’s experienced here for the last six years and really working together to elevate the team. We will without doubt be one of the strongest team mate pairings – and that’s a positive.”
Leclerc and Hamilton will embark on their first season as team mates in 2025
'I'm doing everything I can to be ready for race one'
Hamilton is under no illusions how big the size of the challenge is in front of him. Whereas he had months and months of testing ahead of his F1 debut with McLaren and three pre-season tests to get up to speed with his following team Mercedes, the Briton will have just 1.5 days of running in current machinery in Bahrain before he heads to Australia for the first round of the season.
“What I know is that the testing is more limited than ever before but fortunately, I've had a good bit of time in the car,” he said, the Briton having done a private test at Fiorano in a 2023 car, two more days of running in a 2023 car at Barcelona, a run in a modified 2024-car at Barcelona with a Monza-spec low downforce rear wing and a handful of laps in the 2025 car on a filming day at Fiorano.
“I am still acclimatising. It took me six months, I think, in Mercedes to get my first win. Honestly, I don't know but I'm doing everything I can to be ready for race one.”
A big few days, then, lie in store for Hamilton, who will share driving duties with Leclerc across three days of testing in Bahrain. This will be his first opportunity to start building a rhythm with the car, getting a feel for it on a low and high fuel, understanding how it works its tyres and how the team goes about adding performance, fixing problems and preparing for an assault on the title.
The 40-year-old has joined at a good time, with Ferrari seemingly in the ascendency after their strongest campaign for years last season. If they’ve carried that form through to this year, Hamilton should find himself with a stable, balanced package that can unleash performance to fight at the front.
It’s then down to him to be dynamic and find a way to utilise that speed. We’ll get our first glimpse this week as to how he’ll cope with that challenge.
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