Nate Saunders makes his first prediction on the winner of the 2025 F1 championship. (1:49)
It’s the most anticipated driver move in recent Formula 1 history: After 12 years at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton became a Ferrari driver on New Year’s Day.
His first race in red will be at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 16, although the main points of the above are scarce so far.
Speaking at Ferrari’s annual end-of-season press conference, team principal Fred Vasseur provided some insight into what the seven-time world champion’s first few months would look like in his new job.
The precise date and place of Hamilton’s first outing in a Ferrari are not yet set in stone. F1’s pre-season test, in which all ten groups will be on track for three days in Bahrain, will take place from 26-28 February. However, Hamilton will have the opportunity to make his debut in a Ferrari F1 before then.
With his contract having started, he is free to get behind the wheel of a two-year-old Ferrari (most likely the SF-23 from 2023) as permitted by F1’s Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) regulations.
Vassuer indicated Hamilton would use TPC to familiarize himself with a recent Ferrari, but said the date and location would depend on weather conditions in northern Italy early next year.
Ferrari’s Fiorano test track is the most likely destination for its first test, but nearby Imola and Mugello can serve if needed.
Pirelli also plans a review of the 2025 tires at the end of January at the French Magny Cours circuit, which would give Hamilton the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a 2024 Ferrari.
“We will have the occasion to do a TPC or Pirelli test day,” Vasseur said. “But it’s closely linked to the weather, and we didn’t take a decision [on a date or venue].
“It’s a challenge, from the beginning of January to the beginning of the season. That means it’s actually imperative to have only six weeks [before pre-season testing], it’s not easy. “
“But I think he’s also coming with his own experience. He’s not the rookie of the year. It means that I’m not worried at all about this.
“It is also the continuity of the past [technical] regulations [from 2024] and that means for us that we have a secure reference. I’m not worried, but it is certainly a challenge. “
The classic car launch season has been a bit confusing next year since the F1 season launch event in London on February 18, in which all ten teams will unveil their designs for 2025.
After leveling up at London’s O2 Arena with the other 19 F1 drivers, Hamilton will travel to Italy with Vasseur and teammate Charles Leclerc for the unveiling of the genuine Ferrari car in Maranello the following day.
Ferrari will use its Fiorano control track to cover the first miles with the new car, which is permitted under regulations that allow demonstration races (limited to nine miles) or filming days (limited to 31 miles).
The new Ferrari will then be packed up and flown to Bahrain, where three days of F1 pre-season will begin from February 26-28.
Vasseur showed that Ferrari would hold a separate event earlier in the year just to announce Hamilton’s arrival to the team.
“No, no, we have to do it during the season,” he said. “It will be a very tight era from day one to launch, it is only a matter of weeks and I need everyone to improve their performance.
“That means we’re going to have the championship launch [on February 18], we’re going to have the car launch [on February 19]. For me, that’s already two times, and it’s too many. “
“It’s too far away, let’s say, and. . . no, no, I need to focus on the functionality of the progression and not put on a show. “
After finishing seventh in this year’s standings, Hamilton joins Ferrari after his worst result in an F1 drivers’ championship to date.
It’s no secret that he struggled to keep up with his Mercedes W15 in 2024, and vastly outpaced teammate George Russell in qualifying (19-5) and championship matters (245-223).
However, Vasseur believes news of Hamilton’s departure from Mercedes at the start of the year put him in an awkward position at his old team this season, and is confident he will have a better environment in 2025.
“He had very smart races in Las Vegas, in Abu Dhabi [in 2024] and I never, really, ever, ever, ever, ever worried about the situation,” Vasseur said.
“I’m really convinced that it was the situation, and I don’t want to blame Lewis or Mercedes, but this situation, it’s not easy to manage and I can understand that if it’s not going very well, you can suffer of this relationship.
“It doesn’t seem very smart for him to be transparent in Brazil, for example, but he also did very, very well in the last two events. I’m not worried at all. “
Vasseur said Hamilton will also have several simulator sessions in addition to pre-season to familiarize himself with the feel of the 2025 car.
“For sure we know that we will have a lot of procedures to assimilate during these couple of days, but I think he is experienced enough to do it, that we’ll have the advantage to have the simulator,” he added.
“Obviously you will have to do a race simulation, a qualifying simulation in the simulator, and be completely ready with the steering wheel and the particulars of the race. But honestly, that doesn’t worry me. It doesn’t worry me. It’s not the biggest challenge.
In the immediate aftermath of Hamilton’s news breaking in February this year, Vasseur was reluctant to discuss the topic while Ferrari still had a full season with Carlos Sainz at the team.
But speaking a year after the negotiations, he said Hamilton wanted to be convinced to move from Mercedes to Ferrari by 2025.
“In 2023 we won more races than Mercedes, first, and the beginning of the season was good also,” he said. “It was not too difficult to convince him that Ferrari will be a good project.
“And I think I had the task in mind to drive for Ferrari for at least 22 or 23 years, because we were talking about it in 2004. It wasn’t too difficult. “
“I think it’s also a matter of coincidence, or aligning all the planets: if it’s on the market, if Ferrari has a seat available, etc. But the touch was easy, we started discussing a year ago and it was not at all complicated to convince him. “
Hamilton’s struggles in qualifying in 2024 create a big mark for how he will compare to his new teammate Leclerc in 2025, who is widely regarded as one of the fastest single-lap drivers in F1.
If a title is on the line next year, managing expectations and setting boundaries between the two drivers will fall on Vasseur, but the Ferrari team boss believes the desire of the two drivers to emulate each other’s performances will ultimately be a good thing.
“You know it’s a challenge,” Vasseur said. I have my challenge this year between Charles and Carlos, but I think that was part of the performance.
“I’m convinced that emulation within the team is the key to the team’s performance, and between Charles and Carlos we had some moments.
“But in the end I think it was favorable for the team’s performance. Charles, Lewis, that doesn’t particularly worry me. “
“They have immense respect for each other, they know each other, they have been talking about it for months. And I think it’s much better to fight for 1-2 or 2-3 on the grid than to fight for 19-20.
“And I think it’s smart for a team to have this kind of discussion, this kind of approach. And once again I’m convinced that the functionality of the team also comes from the emulation between the two. “
Take a look at some of the incredible stats from Lewis Hamilton’s 11-year career at Mercedes.
Hamilton’s departure from Mercedes ends his 12-year partnership with racing engineer Peter Bonnington. Together, they have won 84 races and six titles, a record unmatched by any other driver and engineer in Formula 1 history, but Bonnington is expected to remain at Mercedes. in 2025.
Riccardo Adami, who engineered Sainz for the past four years, is tipped to remain in his role next year, but Vasseur was reluctant to confirm details of Hamilton’s exact engineering team. He did make clear, however, that Ferrari would not attempt to replicate the engineering team Hamilton had at Mercedes.
“The target is not to do a copy paste of what Lewis is doing and to try to attract all the people from Mercedes and to do a Mercedes team,” he said. “They were not champions the last two or three years, it means that we have to do different and we will do different with our team, our guys and all resources.
“We have to find the best way to manage Lewis. I know him pretty well, but I don’t want to do at all a copy paste of what he did in the past.”
A rumor that has emerged since Hamilton’s move was announced that he would be moving to Italy to be closer to Ferrari’s base in Maranello.
Although he owns homes all over the world, Hamilton is based in Monaco, which will make the adventure to the Ferrari factory next year shorter than ever when he had to stop at the Mercedes factory in the UK.
His new teammate Leclerc also lives in Monaco and is known to travel five hours on holiday to Maranello, driving his own Ferrari, whenever he so desires.
Vasseur said there was no pressure on Hamilton to move closer to the factory, especially as the dense schedule of races next season means the two drivers are away for large parts of the year.
“I think that’s not the challenge because we’re going through starting the season doing some testing and then you go through the first five races in six weeks and we possibly can’t get back to the factory.
“You know that the seasons now are a bit crazy.”
Hamilton has also spoken about learning Italian on his arrival at Ferrari, but Vasseur, who has yet to learn the language himself, said it is not essential for the job.
“It’s a point for me,” he joked. You know that 99% of the paintings are in English.
“I think it’s speaking a little Italian about the mechanics and relationships within the team.
“But I’m not sure it’s because of the performance. “