When will Lewis Hamilton make his Ferrari debut in F1 2025? Testing, race schedule, contract length and more | F1 news
The biggest F1 driver move ever has come ahead of the new 2025 season with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton preparing for his first year at Ferrari.
Keep up to date with the latest key dates and events here during the pre-season as the early stages of one of sports’ most anticipated tie-ups play out…
When will Hamilton drive a Ferrari for the first time?
Ferrari are yet to officially confirm Hamilton’s exact early movements at their Maranello base when he first arrives later in January, but team boss Frederic Vasseur told the media just before Christmas that their star’s track debut for them was to be in one of the team’s old cars .
This is because Formula 1 sporting regulations allow testing of previous cars (TPC), subject to certain restrictions, and teams can run their cars from 2023, 2022 or 2021 this year outside the 2025 race weekend and official testing.
With pre-season testing for the new challenges in 2025 not taking place until the end of February in Bahrain, driving the older car before then will give Hamilton the first opportunity to get used to some of the unique characteristics of one of the Scuderia’s cars, systems and track practices.
What we know so far is that Hamilton’s bow will come to the hands of the Scuderia Fiorano to the test track, which is located near their factory in Maranello, with the exact date in second half of January determine closer to the time according to the weather forecast.
When will Hamilton make his first public appearance as a Ferrari driver?
Vasseur has confirmed there will not be a bespoke ‘reveal’ event ahead of the season to mark the seven-time world champion’s arrival at the Scuderi, but Hamilton will definitely join new team-mate Charles Leclerc and the rest of the much-changed F1 2025 grid at a special season launch event of this sport in London’s O2 on February 18.
Hamilton will then take part in his first presentation of a Ferrari car a day later at Maranello February 19.
When will Hamilton drive Ferrari’s 2025 car for the first time?
While Hamilton and Leclerc are likely to drive their new car in 2025 at Fiorano in a shakedown as part of one of the team’s sanctioned ‘shooting days’ following the February 19 launch, their full debut in the team’s latest challenger will take place at the Bahrain test from February 26-28.
Hamilton and Leclerc will share driving duties over the three days in the Middle East, meaning they will each be on track for a day and a half.
When and where will he make his Ferrari race debut?
Melbourne’s Albert Park will be the venue for Hamilton’s first race weekend as a Ferrari driver at the 14.-16. March because the Australian Grand Prix will once again host the season opener in 2025.
All 24 race weekends in the new season they live on Sky Sports F1.
How long is his contract with Ferrari?
Ferrari announced they had signed Hamilton to a “multi-year” deal when the move was announced last February. Although the exact length of the mandate is not publicly stated, the multi-year one would certainly cover the 2025 and 2026 seasons and could even include options for the Briton to continue beyond that.
Hamilton, who turned 40 on January 7, said in April 2024 that “I will be racing well into my 40s” after previously playing down the chances of him continuing his career that long.
The 2025 campaign marks Hamilton’s 19th consecutive season on the F1 grid.
Why did Hamilton decide to join Ferrari?
It was a shock of truly seismic proportions when it was announced on February 1, 2024 that Hamilton would be leaving Mercedes at the end of that year to join rival Ferrari.
Activating the release clause in what was previously believed to be a fixed two-year contract with Mercedes, agreed just five months earlier, Hamilton said that while it was “the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make” when he decided to leave, he concluded that “in I’m finally writing my own story and I felt it was time to start a new chapter.”
How did Hamilton fare in the 2024 season?
In what was always going to be an unusual 2024 season for Hamilton and Mercedes with his end-of-year departure announced before the campaign had even begun, the Briton finished outside the top six in the Drivers’ Championship for the first time (seventh). in his career, and was surpassed by teammate George Russell.
Struggling to match his style with Mercedes’ 2024 car, which suited some tracks and conditions but stuck on others, Hamilton’s problems were mostly evident in qualifying where Russell won a record 104 times in the head-to-head and suffered some shocking early starts. outings, leaving him lower on the grid and often jeopardizing his weekends.
Still, there were some notable highs – particularly on race days – none more so than a brilliant win in changeable conditions at his home British GP, a record ninth victory in a single Grand Prix and a record 104th overall to end a career-worst run of 56 race without victory.
He took over the 105th when team-mate Russell was disqualified at the Belgian GP, while the final weeks of his Mercedes career revolved between unusually poor results – including an early exit in Austin and finishing 12th in a mistake-filled race in Qatar – and the excitement of a comeback drive after poor qualifying in Las Vegas and, on the farewell with Mercedes, in Abu Dhabi.
Who replaced Hamilton at Mercedes?
One of the youngest debutants in the sport, an 18-year-old Italian, took on the role of the most successful F1 driver of all time. Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
A Mercedes protégé who the team has had on its books since 2019, Antonelli won two races in his only year in F2 in 2024 and rocketed through the motorsport ranks to one of the top spots in the table in a clear display of faith in his potential from the team boss Toto Wolff.
Watch all 24 race weekends of the 2025 Formula 1 season live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Australian Grand Prix on March 14-16. Stream Sky Sports with INSTANT – No contract, cancel anytime
