Lewis Hamilton Officially Joins Ferrari As His 2025 Car Clears Crucial Test

Saajan Jogia | Jan 1, 2025

Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Lewis Hamilton waves to the crowd during a fan experience in the Germania Insurance Amphitheater at the Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With the onset of 2025, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is now officially a Ferrari driver. This milestone syncs with a positive development at Ferrari, where his 2025 car, called the Ferrari 677, has reportedly passed the mandatory FIA crash tests, clearing a crucial hurdle for the upcoming season. Hamilton will race alongside Charles Leclerc this season which marks the beginning of a new chapter with their new car scheduled to hit the track for its debut at Fiorano on February 19, following the unveiling at the launch of the 2025 season in London a day earlier.

Hamilton steps into Ferrari after a twelve-year partnership with Mercedes, which celebrated six drivers' titles and eight Constructors' Championships. The Briton, who turns forty in a week's time, seeks his eighth world championship title following a challenging three-year period with Mercedes in the current ground effect era, where he secured two Grands Prix victories as a result of the Brackley outfit's inability to hand him a fast and consistent car.

With just two months remaining until the new season begins, Ferrari has reportedly cleared a crucial milestone by passing the FIA's crash tests. These tests, involving dynamic and static impacts, ensure the chassis is robust enough to safeguard the driver during collisions. According to a recent report, Ferrari successfully passed evaluations for halo fixings, the fuel tank, as well as frontal, vertical, and side impact tests.

There is every reason for Hamilton to arrive at the Maranello outfit with much optimism, as the 2024 season saw Ferrari progress significantly from 2023, which was the result of a much faster car that the team was able to design and develop. Addressing Hamilton's first run in a Ferrari, scheduled for some time later this month, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said:

“We are dependent on the weather, it’s not easy in January.

“It’s true that it’s quite emotional because I think he has this moment in his mind for probably 20 years.

“That means it will be emotional – but it has to be emotional for one lap and then to be focused!

“We will have the first test days with TPC [Testing Of Previous Cars] and Pirelli and then the launch of the championship first on the 18th [of February], then the launch of the car on the 19th and then we will go directly to Bahrain and it will be a tough sequence until Melbourne.

“But it’s true that it’s a short preparation because we have something like four weeks at the factory before the first event, but it is like it is.”