Formula 1 Ferrari launch
Hamilton in no doubt Ferrari switch was the right move after SF-25 debut
After his first run in the 2025 Ferrari, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion is convinced cutting ties with Mercedes and joining the Italian team was the correct decision
Ben Hunt
Edited: Feb 19, 2025, 7:14 PM
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Lewis Hamilton has been left in no doubt that he has made the right decision to join Ferrari.
The seven-time world champion was speaking after his first drive in Ferrari’s challenger for 2025 at a shakedown run at the team’s test track in Fiorano.
Hamilton, who lit up the F1 75 livery launch in London’s O2 Arena on Tuesday evening, revealed he has tried to integrate himself into the Italian team by living in his motorhome, which is parked at the team’s Maranello factory.
When asked if he thought he had made the right move having driven this season’s Ferrari, he said: “100%. I don't have the slightest doubt or question in my head. I'm in the right place at the right time and it's a great privilege to be here, to join this team and to work with everyone to try to build and continue the great historical tradition of this team.
"Every day has been exciting. Even last night, walking on that stage [at the F1 75 livery event] dressed in red was something totally new for me.
"To be able to meet and experience the fans is something very different doing it as an opponent or doing it as a Ferrari driver.
"To begin a journey together with them and the team is something that left me speechless."
Watch: F175 was bold and risky - but was it successful?
Hamilton’s wave of positivity comes after a winter of readjusting to life with the Italian team. The 40-year-old has been rejuvenated by the move and is now adjusting to the new challenge.
When asked how different driving the Ferrari was to his old Mercedes cars, he added: “Ferrari is very different. From the moment you put on the suit and enter the garage, put on the helmet and enter the cockpit, you feel that incredible passion.
“It's all exciting and thrilling. It has an incredible history with this team, and as a kid it was a dream for me to be able to race for Ferrari, and I still pinch myself to be able to believe that it's really happening. I have so many expectations.”
Hamilton had previously driven a 2022 Ferrari at Fiorano in January before taking a 2023 F1 car around Barcelona during a three-day private test, where he also crashed.
However, in his short spell at the team he has said he has seen enough to know they have “all the ingredients to win”.
Hamilton said: “From seeing the passion, everything under one roof, which I've never experienced before, this team has absolutely every ingredient to win.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Getty Images
“But we're also aware we have to continue to work. We have to improve and elevate everywhere - not everywhere but in certain areas, and I have no doubt that we can do that.
“I have genuinely loved every day I have been here. It's a place you genuinely don't really want to leave in the day. Everything's here. Even my motorhome is here so I don't ever leave!”
Hamilton was joined by his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who said the Brit was joining the team “at the right time”.
He added: “Lewis joining the team has been a big boost and has been amazing in so many areas. I feel like the team is very calm and clear in what is the direction to work in and not being affected by everything going on in the team.
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“We had a good car but it needed more performance, and that is where we focused on this car. We focused on small things in every area.”
Hamilton was also asked about his new team-mate, who joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2016. He said: “Charles is very embedded in this team. He is very fast and I am completely aware of that.
“It is not going to be easy to beat him, but we will work together and have some great races, I hope.”
Photos from the Ferrari Shakedown
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