FRESH LEWIS HAMILTON DEBUT DETAILS EMERGE AS FIRST FERRARI TEST NEARS – REPORT

Lewis Hamilton is to receive his first taste of Ferrari F1 machinery behind the wheel of the team’s 2022 car on Wednesday January 22, it has been claimed.

Hamilton is poised to link up with Ferrari for the first time next week following his move from Mercedes for the F1 2025 season.

Report: Lewis Hamilton to drive Ferrari F1-75 car in Fiorano test

The seven-time World Champion will partner Charles Leclerc in a blockbuster driver lineup, with Williams-bound Carlos Sainz forced to make way for Hamilton at the end of last year.

Hamilton is currently on a short break following the end of his Mercedes career, having celebrated his 40th birthday last week, with the British driver set to officially begin his F1 2025 preparations with Ferrari on Monday January 20.

His first week at Ferrari is set to see him take to the track in red for the first time with Ferrari traditionally holding a so-called ‘wake-up ‘test’ in January, targeted at getting team and drivers back up to speed ahead of the new season.

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Rumours over recent months claimed Ferrari were yet to decide whether to use the F1-75 car of 2022 or its successor, 2023’s SF-23, for Hamilton’s first on-track outing.

With the test edging closer, however, a report by respected Italian publication Auto Racer has claimed that Ferrari have settled on the 2022 car for Hamilton’s maiden run.

Hamilton will appear next Wednesday – on the middle day of what is expected to be a three-day test – with his F1 race number, 44, set to appear on a Ferrari for the first time.

It is said that Hamilton will report to the team’s Maranello factory on Monday January 20 for his first run in Ferrari’s simulator as well as meetings with his new engineers.

Among them is expected to be Riccardo Adami, set to become Hamilton’s new race engineer for F1 2025 having previously worked with Sainz and four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

Ferrari will reportedly then stage three days of running at Fiorano between Tuesday January 21 and Thursday January 23, with Hamilton’s first on-track outing expected on Wednesday January 22.

It is said that Ferrari have “no special progam” planned for Hamilton, with Leclerc also expected to be in action at Fiorano.

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Reports earlier this month have claimed that Hamilton’s pre-season schedule will then take him to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the home of F1’s Spanish Grand Prix, for a second private test with Ferrari.

Hamilton is likely to have completed 1,000 kilometres of running across four test days – the maximum allowed for a driver competing in the World Championship under F1’s revised TPC [Testing of Previous Car] rules – by the end of this month as he adjusts to his new team.

Ferrari will officially launch the new Project 677 car – development of which is being led by Hamilton’s former Mercedes colleague Loic Serra – on February 19, one day after Hamilton and Leclerc appear at F1’s first-ever season-launch event in London.

F1 will then hold a three-day test in Bahrain between February 26-28 before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 16.

The news comes after experienced Italian F1 journalist Roberto Chinchero described the sense of anticipation building ahead of Hamilton’s arrival.

Appearing on the James Allen podcast, he said: “A kind of Hamilton mania has already started in Italy.

“Since the new year began, there is a big question mark that Italian Ferrari fans are trying to answer – when will the first test of Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari car take place?

“I cannot imagine the number of people that will be around the track. I’m expecting the Maranello and Fiorano streets will be filled with people.

“I’m expecting something that we haven’t seen in years, so it will be hard work for the police in Maranello.

“But I’m not surprised. All the national media, not only the sports media, are giving a lot of space to the man Lewis Hamilton.

“The mainstream is telling you who is Lewis, his passion and interest, the story of his career and his desire to end this career driving a Ferrari.”

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2025-01-15T06:27:54Z