Lewis Hamilton drives Ferrari F1 car for the first time

The seven-time satellite champion delighted Italian fans with his debut down the instrumentality of a 2023-specification F1 Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton, Formula One’s astir palmy operator of each time, waved to a assemblage of waiting fans arsenic helium drove a Ferrari racing car for the archetypal clip since joining the Italian squad for the 2025 season.

Hamilton was down the instrumentality of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, astatine the team’s Fiorano trial way connected Wednesday and wore a caller helmet plan successful yellowish with a salient Prancing Horse logo.

The 40-year-old British operator acceptable retired for his archetypal thigh astatine 9:16am section clip successful airy fog and doubly waved to a assemblage of astir 1,000 spectators, who had gathered connected a adjacent span contempt the acold and bedewed weather.

Hamilton moved to Ferrari for the 2025 play aft 12 years with Mercedes, wherever helium won six of his 7 satellite titles. He has said helium is fulfilling a puerility dream.

“I’ve been fortunate capable to person achieved things successful my vocation I ne'er thought possible, but portion of maine has ever held connected to that imagination of racing successful red. I couldn’t beryllium happier to realise that imagination today,” helium said connected Monday aft arriving astatine Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters.

F1 tightly restricts teams from investigating current-specification cars, but the rules are looser for older cars similar the SF-23 that Hamilton drove connected Wednesday. Official preseason investigating for the caller season’s cars starts successful Bahrain connected February 26 and volition proceed till February 28.

Hamilton volition spouse with Charles Leclerc astatine Ferrari, who person been without a driver’s rubric since 2007 but anticipation to alteration that successful the 2025 season, which begins with the Australian Grand Prix, scheduled from March 14 to 16.

British racer Lewis Hamilton waves to the assemblage arsenic helium drives the Ferrari SF-23 during his archetypal authoritative days arsenic a Scuderia Ferrari F1 operator astatine Fiorano Circuit successful Fiorano Modenese, Italy connected January 22, 2025 [Clive Rose/Getty Images]