Nate Saunders makes his first prediction on the winner of the 2025 F1 championship. (1:49)
Lewis Hamilton is already adopting the noted scarlet red of Formula 1 after officially life as a Ferrari driver.
A long-awaited partnership in F1 between the sport’s most successful team and its driver began on Wednesday when Hamilton joined Ferrari on a two-year deal with Mercedes, where he won six of his seven driver titles.
While Hamilton won’t get behind the wheel of a Ferrari in an official track session until pre-season testing begins on Feb. 26, the Englishman was quick to mark the new era by sharing photos of himself in red on Instagram.
Hamilton posted a photo of himself racing karts as a child, wearing his iconic racing number 44, wearing a red helmet before also sharing a more recent photo decorating a red ski jacket on his stories.
Ferrari also celebrated the start of the collaboration with coordinated launches at 4:44 p. m. , the driver numbers of Charles Leclerc and Hamilton.
Hamilton replaces Carlos Sainz at the Scuderia, with the Spaniard moving to Williams despite his four-year impression alongside Leclerc. Ferrari showed off the signing of Hamilton in February 2024, before Sainz enjoyed his most productive season in F1.
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Hamilton, through his high standards, struggled last season. Although he had ended a two-year racing drought, his seventh place finish in the championship was a career low.
But while there will only be three days of pre-season testing for Hamilton to familiarize himself with his new team and new car, as well as possible debuts, a past car review program or a Pirelli tire review, team boss Frederic Vasseur , he is not worried. about the integration of the seven-time world champion.
“It’s always a challenge, starting from the beginning of January until the launch of the season,” Vasseur said in December. “It means that for sure it’s critical that you have only six weeks [before preseason testing], it’s not easy.
“But I think it also comes with its own experience. He is the rookie of the year. That means I’m not worried about it at all. “
“It’s also the continuity of the previous [technical] regulations [from 2024] and so that means for us, we have some reference. I’m not worried, but it’s true that it’s a challenge.”
After concluding on February 28, the new season will begin with the Australian Grand Prix on March 16.
Hamilton, who will turn 40 in January, will look to add to his 105 race wins and seven drivers’ titles in 2025, with Ferrari aiming for its first championship since 2008.