Lewis Hamilton has had a monumental week with Ferrari, although he hasn’t but made his official debut with the group. On Tuesday, he made his first public look in Ferrari colours on the F1 75 occasion held in London.
On the occasion, British F1 followers stood out for his or her widespread show of Ferrari’s iconic purple – a uncommon sight, notably for a British driver. The group erupted in cheers as Lewis Hamilton took the stage on the O2 Enviornment, the place he was met with an awesome present of assist.
Through the occasion, Ferrari additionally unveiled their SF-25 livery earlier than rapidly jetting again to Italy. The group’s drivers then took to the monitor for the primary time with the brand new automobile. Charles Leclerc was the primary to hit the monitor on Wednesday morning, adopted by Lewis Hamilton within the afternoon.
The seven-time world champion has been busy finishing an in depth non-public testing program over the winter. He has pushed the 2023 Ferrari at Fiorano and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the latter of which noticed a crash, and has additionally examined final 12 months’s automobile across the Spanish Grand Prix circuit on 2026-spec Pirelli tires.
Subsequent week, Lewis Hamilton will take part in what’s more likely to be his most important check but when groups collect in Bahrain for the pre-season testing. All eyes might be on the onboard footage and lap occasions to gauge his consolation degree with the brand new equipment.
The British driver’s formal debut with Ferrari will happen at the Australian Grand Prix on March 16, and his first race in entrance of the passionate Tifosi will come on the Emilia Romagna GP two months later.
The excitement surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s transfer to Ferrari stays palpable, with Karun Chandhok among the many many excited concerning the prospect. Extensively thought to be probably the most vital driver transfers in Components 1 historical past, Hamilton’s swap to Ferrari marks a partnership that has now mixed for 22 drivers’ titles and an unbelievable 353 race wins.
Although it’s been over a 12 months because the switch was introduced and a month since Lewis Hamilton’s first check with the group, the anticipation continues to construct. Solely a poor begin to the season might probably diminish the hype at this stage. Nonetheless, Liberty Media, F1’s industrial rights holders, are hoping that Lewis Hamilton’s transfer will deliver a surge of worldwide curiosity from the very starting. On his Instagram story, Sky Sports activities F1 pundit Karun Chandhok revealed that Lewis Hamilton’s switch is one in every of his major sources of pleasure for the upcoming season. He’s already counting down the times to Melbourne. He wrote that there have been solely 24 days left till the primary F1 race of the season and that the joy surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s transfer to Ferrari was “unreal.”
Lewis Hamilton has reassessed his view of Fernando Alonso after experiencing life at Ferrari for himself.
Hamilton expressed that his enthusiasm for the game stays as excessive because it was again in 2007 when he made his debut with McLaren. He was in a position to safe his first victory on the Canadian Grand Prix by spherical six that season. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that even attaining that very same degree of success wouldn’t measure as much as the feats of Alonso and Sebastian Vettel throughout their time with Ferrari. Alonso made a right away impression by successful on his Ferrari debut in Bahrain in 2010, and Vettel took victory in simply his second race with the group in Malaysia.
Now that the British driver has joined Ferrari, he has gained a brand new appreciation for the challenges Alonso and Vettel confronted. He has come to know the complexities of adapting to the group and its automobile.
Lewis Hamilton’s personal expertise with Ferrari has not been with out its difficulties. He confronted a tricky weekend on the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne final 12 months, the place he struggled with qualifying in eleventh place earlier than having to retire from the race because of engine issues. Whereas the Monegasque driver reportedly skilled some points throughout testing, the Maranello group is optimistic that they may keep away from such reliability issues this season.