In the maelstrom of the buildup to the new Formula One season, which opens in Melbourne next week, one figure stands at its heart, preternaturally calm as the crescendo builds around him.
Lewis Hamilton, the sport’s most successful driver, now in a Ferrari, the sport’s most successful team, promises to make F1 in 2025 unmissable, his grand, romantic challenge playing out against the backdrop of what may be the most closely fought season in more than a decade.
Hamilton, 40, who has won seven titles, is determined to achieve his greatest accomplishment to date. With Ferrari, who have not won the drivers’ championship since 2007, winning an unprecedented eighth title would be a feat worthy of being ranked among the greatest of them all. Watching him try will be as gripping as McLaren trying to steal his thunder.
This is the culmination for Hamilton of a journey that began when he envisioned himself driving for the Scuderia while playing video games with Michael Schumacher. When the Briton won the team’s first championship, he left his mark on McLaren’s history. For the following 12 years, he worked for Mercedes, winning six more championships for the team from which he was expected to retire.
The change has been good because Hamilton has always defied expectations. He is a new driver who claims he will continue to drive for some time and is still physically and mentally healthy. He has given his all to his new challenge and is motivated in a way that he hasn’t been in years. Can he do it? He has made every contribution to the new venture since joining Ferrari. He knows how happy he is to wear the Ferrari scarlet. He has described taking a moment to consider the significance of looking in the bathroom mirror for the first time in his brand-new race suit. He barely slept the night before his first Ferrari test drive at Fiorano. He drove his motorhome to Maranello and parked it outside the farmhouse that used to be Enzo Ferrari’s office to save time during the preseason. He walked the length and breadth of the vast facility, shaking hands with every one of the 1,500 staff, and invited his engineers back to his temporary home for dinner.
“I want people to know that I’m willing to go above and beyond to blend in and contribute to my full potential” was one of his statements. “Everyone in this place wants to win with Ferrari, every single person. There is magic here, the team’s energy that I’m feeling. Hamilton and Ferrari aren’t just relying on F1 magic. His chances appear to be stronger than ever. With an improved vehicle, Ferrari finished 14 points ahead of McLaren. The SF25 is an evolution of that ride and should suit Hamilton better than the recalcitrant Mercedes.
Hamilton lost out when regulations were changed in 2022. He still enjoys strong turn-ins to slow corners and controlling the car’s rotation as it moves from slow to high speed, despite being late applying the brakes due to the low ride heights. Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, who will present a formidable challenge, will benefit from the Ferrari’s level of oversteer, which overcomes this. In addition to adjusting to the new team, it will be challenging to collaborate with Riccardo Adami, his new race engineer, to come up with a new phrase to replace Peter Bonnington’s Mercedes advice to “hammer time.” Fred Vasseur, who led Hamilton’s ART team in GP2 in 2006 and gave the Scuderia clear direction, is thankful for the team’s excellent health. He has also managed the ups and downs of the blame culture, as evidenced by the team’s composed response to a mistake that caused them to stop competing in the middle of the season last year due to a new floor. He has also used outside talent in the form of the former Mercedes designer Loïc Serra, promoted to technical director of the chassis, and Jérôme d’Ambrosio, the former driver and also Mercedes alumnus as deputy principal, crucially both of whom Hamilton knows well.
Angela Cullen, Hamilton’s long-term trainer who left in 2023, has also been hired again. He said of Ferrari, “They’ve got every ingredient they need to win a world championship.” “All you have to do is put everything together.” He is not entirely in charge of how the pieces fit together this season. For all that Hamilton stands center stage, a host of other players wish to make their mark too, not least McLaren.
The team is expected to lead in Australia. Their vehicle appeared to be the strongest during testing, keeping with their promise to win the constructors’ championship in 2024. Despite having a jerky rear end, it is quick in race simulations and on a single lap. They require something dependable that can begin immediately given how long it took their previous campaigns to get off the ground. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have played down any advantage, but it is hard not to read quiet satisfaction behind the poker faces.
They may appear to be the front-runners, but there will be others. Alongside Ferrari, Mercedes should be in the mix too, with optimism they have delivered a more predictable and stable car than last season and one with a decent touch of pace.