Formula 1’s most successful driver joining the most famous team is proving the dream match Lewis Hamilton would have wished for.
The seven-time world champion has enjoyed a perfect start to life with the Prancing Horse after finding his feet quickly in Maranello.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was already a familiar face having worked with a young Hamilton in GP2 before the Brit entered F1.
Upon their reunion, the latter was told the hardest job he would have to do was learn Italian – with the Scuderia taking care of the rest.
After Hamilton returned to the UK for the F1 75 launch, writer and author Luke Smith revealed life in Italy has been nothing but positive.
He talkSPORT Breakfast: “I think that’s really going to be the story of F1 in 2025. It’s the blockbuster move I think we all dreamed of but never thought would happen. The most successful driver in F1 history joining the most successful team, the most famous team in F1 history in Ferrari.
“Seeing them have this first public event together. it’s going to be yeah a real I think powerful thing.
“A lot of fans at the O2, a lot of them cheering on Lewis and yeah I think it’s going to be really exciting to see how he’s starting life with Ferrari and what this year could hold for him.”
There were fears Ferrari might struggle to manage two superstar drivers, with Hamilton potentially clashing with Charles Leclerc.
However, as seen by fans in various clips shared by the team on social media, the pair have already firmly established a bond off-track.
Smith added: “I think that for Lewis as well he’s got an amazing benchmark there in Charles Leclerc. Charles’ kind of been the driver that I think Ferrari was always going to build its team around for the future, and now you’ve got Lewis Hamilton in there.
“They’re going to push each other on but they’re really getting on and they’re playing chess together already apparently on their phones and stuff like that so already getting their competitive edge in that way.”
A day after his unveiling as a Ferrari driver, Hamilton was treated to a dinner at a restaurant that was a favourite of Michael Schumacher’s.
Hamilton dined at Ristorante Montana with his father Anthony, mother Carmen Larbalestier and stepmother Linda, as well as the second and only surviving son of Enzo Ferrari, Piero.
The following day he took to the Fiorano Modenese test track and was met with incredible support.
Ferrari fans regularly attend the first laps of the season, but this was incomparable, as described by journalist Mario Salvini to talkSPORT.
“We were waiting since yesterday morning on the bridge, the only point on the street where you can have a look at the track,” he began. “It’s a tradition when the season begins.
“A lot of people told me they’ve never seen anything like it, maybe the last years of Michael Schumacher after three or four world championships with Ferrari but for sure, in the last 25 years, nobody has seen anything like this.
“There were maybe 1000 people or more on that bridge, some of them were there from very early in the morning, someone since 5.30 in the morning, but the exit time [when the car came out] was 9.16.”
Hamilton also banked himself extra credit with supporters for donning a classy suit for a tour of the factory, in addition to a photo shoot outside Enzo Ferrari’s old house.
“It’s already historical and the picture is already a story, lots of things to with Lewis can become stories,” Salvini added.
“I think it’s the same outfit as when he became a Sir, so he was saying ‘I give the same importance to Ferrari as I gave to Buckingham Palace’.”
Hamilton’s post on his first day as a Ferrari driver saw him take the record for F1’s most-liked picture – previously held by Leclerc.
To add insult to potential injury, the 40-year-old then beat the Monegasques’ time during a private testing session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – a track he has won six times in his career.
F1 author Smith added to talkSPORT: “I think there’s always going to be that competitive tension on the track I think if they’re very very close, but I think, look Lewis is old enough, he’s been through this so many times in his career.
“I think he knows how to handle it and with Leclerc as well, he’s been a very good character – he’s always worked well with his teammates.
“The combination of them together I think it’s going to be a really really good one for Ferrari and they’re very adamant they can win a championship and it’s easy to see why.”
