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Laurence Edmondson
Lewis Hamilton got behind the wheel of a Ferrari for the first time on Wednesday at Fiorano during his first week with the team.
Crowds of fans gathered in Maranello at the team’s base to witness Hamilton’s first track outing as a Ferrari driver.
F1’s regulations allow him to drive a car that is at least two years old and Ferrari is able to make use of its own test track, Fiorano, which sits within the grounds of its Maranello factory.
Several publicly accessible areas provide viewpoints of the Fiorano circuit and fans were keen to line areas of perimeter fencing to get a glimpse of Hamilton driving a Ferrari F1 car for the first time.
Hamilton posted a photograph of himself in his red race suit on Tuesday, before revealing the first image of his new yellow and red helmet design on Instagram on Wednesday morning.
Hamilton used a yellow helmet when he first arrived in F1 in 2007, but the new design also links in with the yellow on Ferrari’s logo, which represents Modena, the hometown of founder Enzo Ferrari.
After 12 years driving for Mercedes, seven-time champion Hamilton made the switch to Ferrari on New Year’s Day but only started work at Maranello this week when he visited the factory.
After meeting with the team’s management on Monday, including chairman John Elkann and CEO Benedetto Vigna, he introduced himself to the various departments that make up the Ferrari workforce.
He also had a seat fit to ensure his comfort in the car and will have been able to get a first impression of the 2025 car in the team’s simulator.
However, he is not expected to drive the 2025 car in reality until its launch day on February 19.