Ben Hunt: Fans clamour as Hamilton steps "into a new era" with Ferrari

The fans outside Ferrari’s test track in Fiorano had been there long before dawn. Some had scaled the security fencing, others had brought stepladders and pulled away at the green netting that had been installed to keep out prying eyes and camera lenses.

At one point, the growing throng of Tifosi was five or six people deep, each with craned necks trying to catch a glimpse of Lewis Hamilton’s first lap in a Ferrari F1 car.

Some held aloft their mobile phones trying to film him, many of their devices were shrouded in Ferrari protective cases.

Some whistled, some cheered. History was being made in front of their eyes as Hamilton kicked off his new chapter with F1’s most famous team.

This test, part of F1’s permitted Testing of Previous Car programme, was never intended for the fans or open to the media, who stood outside in unison, but Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari has reinvigorated the excitement in the Scuderia.

Shortly after setting out on his maiden installation lap at 09:16, his Ferrari team posted a short 25-second video on their social media channels saying “stepping into a new era. Lewis Hamilton takes his first lap in a Ferrari!”

The video showed him leaving the famous Fiorano office that once belonged to Enzo Ferrari.

Tifosi Ferrari a Fiorano

Photo by: Davide Cavazza

Hamilton is dressed in his Ferrari red race suit and boots and carrying a yellow helmet, akin to the one he first wore on the kart track in homage to his hero, Ayrton Senna.

He’s filmed walking into the garage in Fiorano and produces a wry smile before putting on his helmet and climbing into the cockpit.

The video shows him pulling out on track, with his racing number 44 on display on the shark fin of the 2023 Ferrari, the SF-23.

The weather is murky and damp and unsurprisingly the install lap is a slow one across the greasy track with rain imminent.

Perhaps the rain is fortuitous. In some Italian traditions, rain is considered a sign of good luck. On an Italian wedding day, there is a phrase “sposa bagnata, sposa fortunata,” a translation is “wet bride, lucky bride”.

Despite the clouds, there is already a perception that Hamilton is uplifted. The comments across social media are that he already looks way cooler in Ferrari red than he ever did at Mercedes.

The staged photos that have been released would certainly prove that he feels comfortable, perhaps more than he even expected.

After completing his laps, Hamilton went to the fence and greeted the fans outside the circuit.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Davide Cavazza

Since he announced he was leaving Mercedes for Ferrari 12 months ago, there has been a queue of talking heads warning the 40-year-old that he would face a cultural challenge at Ferrari.

It made sense. The language barrier, the fact that he had never raced with a Ferrari engine, and Ferrari’s own unique way of operating would all be new to Hamilton.

Nonetheless, he has been smart in picking the team close to him to help him navigate the integration.

His Project Forty Four company has grown to include several new hires. Commercial manager Kel Akpobire joined eight months ago from global talent agency CAA.

Global communication specialist Jo Livingston, who has worked with Hamilton while at public relations firm Freuds, has also joined along with chief legal officer Andin Fonyonga.

They join a team that includes Ellen Kolby Hansen, who has been with Hamilton since his days at McLaren, where she worked as driver liaison. And the operation is headed up by Marc Hynes, a former racing driver and Hamilton’s most-trusted lieutenant.

The latest addition to the company is Angela Cullen, Hamilton’s physio who was by his side at Mercedes for six of his seven world titles.

In surrounding himself with people he knows and trusts who operate in the background, Hamilton will be freed up to forge those relationships within Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Ferrari

One of the ways Michael Schumacher engaged with Ferrari when he joined from Benetton in 1996 was not only by his famed work ethic or indeed never publicly criticising the team. It went deeper than that.

Schumacher got to learn what was important to his Ferrari team and in doing so would spend time getting to know the staff, learning their names, birthdays, children’s names, and what their interests were.

Hamilton is likely to adopt the same principles to help him. So while all the interest is on his first laps in a Ferrari, the real groundwork now starts to build that relationship within the team, who he needs the full support of if he is to win an eighth world title.