How Hamilton has settled “in Charles’s house” at Ferrari

Fiorano in winter isn’t the ideal place and time to spend a day outdoors. The province of Modena is a pulsating industrial heart, and yet it’s still an area where human life generally flows peacefully and traffic is usually not a major issue. However, 19 February this year provided a powerful exception to this state of affairs. 

That Wednesday, from the early hours of the morning, traffic between Modena and Fiorano was pretty much paralysed owing to the sheer number of cars converging on Ferrari’s private track. Something important was in the air, and more than 7000 people didn’t hesitate to take the day off from work or school, brave the chilly temperatures and scramble for the best vantage point beyond the fences guarding the boundaries of this hallowed place. 

Ferrari supporters have always been deeply connected to their team, even in the toughest moments, but this day promised to be nothing less than historic. You could almost feel the emotional charge pulsing through the crowd. During the long weeks when the F1 engines had remained silent since the end of last season, an overwhelming wave of passion and anticipation had been building.

Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Maranello represents the union of the most successful driver in F1 history with the most famous and decorated team in the sport. Nobody here wanted to tell their grandchildren that they had an opportunity to see Hamilton’s first laps in his new Ferrari SF-25, but couldn’t get the time off work.

As great as national expectations are, excitement is also building well beyond Italian borders. In late January, Hamilton’s first official appearance in the historic square within the Fiorano circuit, and his maiden appearance at the wheel of a Ferrari – albeit a two-year-old SF-23 – had sparked global interest.

Just one post on X-formerly-known-as-Twitter of Hamilton in his new race suit was reckoned to be worth tens of thousands of dollars to Ferrari and its sponsors. The cash registers continued to clang on 19 February as pictures and video circulated of the Brit essaying his first laps in Ferrari’s 2025 car. In between, the F1 75 ‘season launch’ at London’s O2 Arena provided a different setting but the same theme: Hamilton, dressed in red, stealing the show just with his presence. 

From the moment Hamilton stepped through the gates of Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello, he became part of the team’s world. In Italy there wasn’t a single bar where fans weren’t talking about Hamilton in red, eager to see his move to Ferrari as the final piece of a perfect package to chase the world championship title.  

The excitement surrounding Hamilton’s early days at Ferrari quickly turned into a nerve-racking wait. For all the intrigue provided by pre-season testing, the definitive moment will be the Australian Grand Prix. From the Melbourne weekend onwards, all speculation will be moot: the stopwatch, qualifying results, race pace and championship points will do the talking. The romanticism will fade into the background as a true picture emerges of what Hamilton can achieve with Ferrari, and what Ferrari can provide for Hamilton.  

Early indicators point to a positive relationship between the Ferrari team-mates

Photo by: Ferrari

The Leclerc-Hamilton dynamic

Beyond the technical details of the new car, one of the biggest questions is how Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will co-exist as team-mates. Personable though Leclerc is, he hasn’t always got on easily with his opposite numbers. With Sebastian Vettel, growing rancour manifested itself in the form of collisions on track; with Carlos Sainz, it was globally broadcast via splenetic team radio exchanges. More significantly in terms of championship outcomes, differences in driving styles have been an issue – particularly on the return of ground effect, when Ferrari struggled to build a car from which both drivers could extract maximum performance.

This topic surfaced immediately after Hamilton’s deal with Ferrari was announced but is now at the forefront of conversation. The first interactions between the two have been very positive. Rumours following the Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) sessions – which both drivers completed at the Circuit de Catalunya – suggest that their driving styles are much more similar than has been the case for Ferrari drivers in recent years. “I’ve noticed that we have a very similar driving style,” says Leclerc. “I think this will lead to similar requests for the car and engineers. That’s my initial feeling, but we’ll get confirmation in the first part of the season.”  

For Hamilton, integrating into the Ferrari team is just as important as his on-track performance

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has been clear about his vision for the Hamilton-Leclerc partnership. “One of a driver’s greatest skills is the ability to constantly improve,” he points out, “and a good way to do that is by analysing their team-mate’s performance, since they are the closest reference and you have access to their data. I’m not worried at all – we need this kind of positive competition if we want to succeed. We need both drivers to perform well, pushing each other in a healthy way. I’m sure that’s what will happen.”  

There will be no differences within the team, but the two drivers are entering the 2025 season from different backgrounds. 

Adjusting to a new car is just part of the challenge for Hamilton

Photo by: Ferrari

Hamilton’s biggest challenge

Hamilton’s speed is a given: he’s statistically the most successful grand prix driver of all time. And yet a lingering unknown offers the potential to frustrate expectations: qualifying performance. Historically Hamilton is no slouch in qualifying but, in the ground-effect era, he has struggled to get the best out of a car over a single lap. The 19-5 head-to-head deficit to George Russell at Mercedes in qualifying during 2024 is a worrying statistic. Now, starting from Melbourne, Lewis will have one of the best qualifiers on the grid – if not the best – across the garage.  

It will be crucial to see whether Hamilton’s struggles over a single lap in 2024 were due to an imperfect match between the Mercedes W15’s characteristics and his driving style. Last year, Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin suggested that Hamilton had some difficulties managing brake locking, and slight oversteer when exiting corners – small details, but crucial when competing at the highest level. 

There’s no guarantee that Hamilton will encounter the same issues at Ferrari. The SF-25 could better suit his driving style – but he will still need to adapt quickly, especially to the Brembo brakes. Historically, he has preferred the feel and modulation offered by Carbone Industrie discs and pads.  

Qualifying will be a crucial battleground for Hamilton. If he wants to compete on an equal footing with Leclerc, he cannot afford to start behind him consistently – especially after the progress made by Leclerc in 2024 in terms of race consistency and effectiveness. This is why, heading into the season, many predict Leclerc to have the upper hand, particularly if Ferrari produces a highly competitive car.  

The Ferrari incumbent has made his intentions clear: “I’m aiming for the world championship.” A bold statement, unlike anything he has ever expressed since joining Ferrari in 2019.  

Commitment to his new team has been rewarded with a heartfelt welcome for Hamilton from the passionate fanbase

Photo by: Ferrari

Integration, not disintegration

For Hamilton, integrating into the Ferrari team is just as important as his on-track performance. For now, he is the one on unfamiliar ground. “I’m in Charles’s house,” he offers, recognising Leclerc’s deep-rooted presence within the team. To bridge the gap, Hamilton has already begun learning some Italian, essential for direct communication with Ferrari’s mechanics even though English remains the official language on the radio.

His commitment was evident from his first official visit to Ferrari, where he personally shook hands with every employee at the Gestione Sportiva responsible for Ferrari’s F1 programme. During the pre-season, Hamilton even stayed in a motorhome at the Fiorano circuit, where he will reside whenever he’s working at Maranello. Additionally, he will have a home in Milan, just a two-hour drive from Ferrari’s headquarters.

“Everything here is within reach,” Hamilton says. His mornings have included jogging sessions on the Fiorano track before seamlessly transitioning between meetings with the engine, chassis and aerodynamics departments.  

In his first Ferrari press conference, Hamilton was reminded that Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso won on their Ferrari debuts, while Vettel took just two races to triumph. Hamilton acknowledges the weight of history and has attempted to manage expectations as diplomatically as possible; of course, as a highly competitive individual, he’ll be determined to match these achievements.

“I took six months to win my first race with Mercedes. Now, I can’t say how long it will take with Ferrari, but I’m doing everything I can to be ready for race one” Lewis Hamilton

“Those guys did an incredible job – I have massive respect for them,” he says. “I know how much work goes into acclimatising to a new team, so their achievements are even more impressive than I had previously appreciated. Back in the day, I took six months to win my first race with Mercedes. Now, I can’t say how long it will take with Ferrari, but I’m doing everything I can to be ready for race one.”  

Hamilton’s challenge isn’t just about learning new steering wheel controls. It’s about adjusting to a car with different aerodynamics and a different power unit, and a completely new working environment. But, as a seven-time world champion, he has an edge over less experienced drivers making similar transitions.  

Hamilton has sought to minimise the number of unfamiliar elements in his new world. He is maintaining a trusted inner circle around him, led by his closest confidant, Marc Hynes. Significantly, Angela Cullen, his former trainer, has rejoined his personal squad after their separation in early 2023, and was present at Hamilton’s Fiorano test. He has also recruited a personal press representative, an Italian-born professional based in London, to his core support group.  

The inescapable conclusion is that Hamilton has cannily assembled all the elements required to make this new chapter of his career a success. He is building an emotional connection with the fans already – bringing his mother and father to his first day at Maranello played supremely well – and is diligently making friends within the team, visiting the remotest corners of the Gestione Sportiva. It’s what Michael Schumacher famously did when he arrived in Maranello.

The difference is that Schumacher was but a two-time champion when he donned rosso corsa. Hamilton is already a legend and expectations are building accordingly – not least for the man himself. At certain races last year he looked despondent; now he looks reanimated – a man who knows he’s living his dream.

This article is one of many in the new monthly issue of Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the April 2025 issue and subscribe today.

Hamilton has sought to ensure all the elements are in place to make this chapter of his career a success

Photo by: Ferrari