Four important tasks on Lewis Hamilton’s first Ferrari to-do list

Now that 2025 is officially here, so begins Lewis Hamilton’s stint as a driver for Scuderia Ferrari. But before he begins racing for the team, there are a few things he must do.

It’ll take four critical steps for Hamilton to truly make himself at home with the team — but once done, they’ll have him set up for success.

Meet the Ferrari team…

… And, more specifically, meet his side of the garage — including his race engineer.

Formula 1 is a sport of relationships, and there is perhaps no relationship more critical than that of a driver and his race engineer. These are the two people most responsible for performing well on the track, and finding a good working rhythm is key.

Further, it also helps to forge bonds with everyone on your side of the garage: Mechanics, engineers, press personnel, and so much more. The more Hamilton is able to learn about his crew before the start of the season, the better.

Peter Bonnington, his longtime compatriot at Mercedes, will not be joining him, which means a new race engineer partnership is set to be forged with Riccardo Adami, who was the voice over the radio for Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz.

Embrace the Ferrari culture… and the pressure

Scuderia Ferrari is unlike any other sporting entity in the world.

The team’s roots trace back to the pre-war era of Grand Prix racing, when motorsport was a highly nationalistic affair. The team’s rosso corsa paint scheme correlates to the national color of Italy’s racing teams. As such, a success for the Scuderia wasn’t just the success of a team: It was the success of a nation.

Even though Grand Prix racing has become increasingly multinational over time, racing for Ferrari comes with heaps of additional pressure from the ultra-dedicated tifosi, the media, and the country of Italy at large. There’s an expectation that you will sacrifice your individual performance for the sake of the team, should that be necessary. For a driver like Lewis Hamilton, who has become used to being the lynchpin of the team, this mindset could come as a shock.

The best way for Hamilton to truly weave himself into the team is to get familiar with the culture on an intimate level — and to be prepared to embrace the pressure as a motivating factor, not as something to be afraid of.

More on Lewis Hamilton:

👉 Lewis Hamilton: The new superstar that Formula 1 was looking for

👉 10 biggest sports deals in history: Where does Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari salary rank?

Get used to the Ferrari steering wheel

In Formula 1, each team is free to develop its own steering wheel design in order to take into account several factors: Ergonomics, team processes, driver preferences, and so much more.

Modern wheels are equipped with a wide variety of buttons, dials, and pedals, all of which must be used in a specific order to achieve specific results. Further, every team also has a slew of customizable data pages that a driver can flip through.

After over a decade at Mercedes, it’s very likely that much of Hamilton’s steering wheel usage comes naturally as befits that team; he’ll know what buttons to push or what dials to turn in order to achieve a certain result on the car.

But those controls will be different at Ferrari. During these weeks before the start of the season, Hamilton will need to familiarize himself with his new steering wheel and its basic processes, as well as confirming any personal preferences with the team.

Get a taste of Ferrari machinery

While the full details haven’t been released to the public, we do know that Lewis Hamilton has been booked for a private Ferrari test in late January, where he will have an opportunity to get behind the wheel of a Ferrari machine from 2022 or 2023.

Effectively, this will allow Hamilton to see what it’s like to be a Ferrari driver, and to get a sense of the most recent generation of car in a way that would not violate any restrictions on testing.

While the Scuderia’s 2025 car — codenamed project 677 — will likely be much different than a machine from either 2022 or 2023, Hamilton will at least gain some sense of what it’s like to operate a car and communicate with Ferrari’s engineers in the process.

Last year, Ferrari held a similar session for both Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc, even though they were returning to the team; the goal was to shake off the cobwebs before testing started in earnest.

Hamilton, however, will benefit by simply growing familiar with the act of driving a Ferrari after so many years with Mercedes.

Read next: Lewis Hamilton v Charles Leclerc: A bigger challenge than George Russell?