How Lewis Hamilton has already completed life at Ferrari in just 31 days

Just 31 days since his first official run in the SF-25, Lewis Hamilton has experienced the full array of life as a Ferrari driver – the highs, the lows and the did-that-really-happen? moments.

Because that is part and parcel of being a Ferrari driver.

At Ferrari, they do the good, bad and the ugly

No team in Formula 1 history knows how to giveth and taketh away quite like Ferrari, the sport’s most successful team with 16 Constructors’ Championship victories and 15 World titles.

Throw in 247 victories, 824 podiums and 253 pole positions, and it was only a matter of time before Ferrari’s new signing Lewis Hamilton, himself a seven-time World Champion, experienced the joy of a Ferrari celebration.

But for a team that hasn’t won a Drivers’ title since 2007, their last Constructors’ trophy coming a year later, it was also a matter of time before Hamilton received a first-hand lesson in why that is.

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31 days ago, Hamilton climbed into the cockpit of the SF-25 for what turned out to be a solid, although not spectacular, opening day of pre-season testing at the Bahrain circuit.

He went on to eclipse Ferrari’s Q3 time from the 2024 edition of the Grand Prix as he completed his second half-day, but by day three things weren’t looking quite as rosy.

Those pre-testing claims in the Italian media that Ferrari had found half a second with the all-new car turned out to be wide of the mark, the SF-25 instead the third or even fourth fastest car.

But that, Hamilton surely knew, was the norm for Ferrari in the world of Tifosi expectations versus reality.

Next on the schedule for Hamilton was the Australian Grand Prix, a mediocre performance in a weekend of harsh lessons for Hamilton. The harshest of which was the intense focus on him. After all, F1’s most successful driver was making his race debut with the sport’s most successful team.

Much of that focus turned to his radio messages, not only from FOM but also the fans, media, and don’t forget those “over-eggers”.

“Everyone over-egged [the situation],” Hamilton bit back. “It was literally just a back-and-forth. I was very polite in how I suggested it. I said ‘leave it to me, please’. I wasn’t saying ‘F-you’, I wasn’t swearing. Go and listen to the radio calls with others and their engineers – it’s far worse.”

What else is far worse? How the world dissects Ferrari and its drivers.

But moving on…

Kicking off the F1 2025 championship with back-to-back Grands Prix, Hamilton and Co. ventured to Shanghai next for the season’s first Sprint.

Lagging seven tenths behind Lando Norris in the sole practice hour, the odds weren’t in Hamilton’s favour heading into Sprint Qualifying – only for the Briton to grab pole position.

0.02s up on his 2021 title rival, Hamilton was “gobsmacked” at his first Ferrari pole, adding: “It’s just amazing to see the number one as you stop and be in the red car. It’s pretty incredible.”

A day later he followed that up with the Sprint win and the fans, media, and don’t forget those “yappers” and “critics”, forgot all about Australia and instead celebrated China.

But alas, Ferrari is Ferrari and while every other team does the good with the bad, Ferrari do the great with the incompetent.

Setup changes after the Sprint cost Hamilton pace with the Briton only fifth in qualifying. Although no ideal, it wasn’t a huge drama especially after Hamilton dominated in the latter laps of the Sprint, putting a second per lap between himself and Oscar Piastri.

Those setup changes though meant Hamilton wasn’t able to recover in a Grand Prix that began with contact with his team-mate, saw yet more focus on his radio messages amid a position swap with Leclerc and was undone by a not optimal two-stop strategy.

Where have we heard “not optimal strategy” before? Oh yes, almost every single season at Ferrari.

But wait, there’s more!

Crossing the line in sixth place behind Leclerc may not have been the target but those eight points were seven more than Hamilton scored at the Australian Grand Prix. Until they weren’t.

“The plank assembly of Car 44 was measured and found to be 8.6mm (LHS), 8.6mm (car centerline), and 8.5mm (RHS). This is below the minimum thickness of 9mm specified under Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations,” read the Chinese GP stewards’ note as they confirmed Hamilton had been disqualified.

“During the hearing, the team representative confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly. The team also acknowledged that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team.

“The Stewards determine that Article 3.5.9 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations has been breached and therefore the standard penalty of a disqualification needs to be applied for such an infringement.”

Ferrari called it a mistake. “With regard to Lewis’ skid wear, we misjudged the consumption by a small margin,” they said. “There was no intention to gain any advantage. We will learn from what happened today and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again.”

Searching for a positive in the middle of the drama there was one obvious one, they hadn’t made the same mistake with the other car. No, they instead made a different mistake.

As Leclerc too was disqualified, the stewards announced: “Car 16 was weighed by the FIA Technical Delegate using the FIA scales which showed the result of 799 kg after the customary draining of fuel and the replacement of a broken front wing. The calibration of the scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor.

“During the hearing there was no challenge to the FIA’s measurements which are taken to be correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly. There are no mitigating circumstances and that the team confirmed that it was a genuine error by them.”

That is two DSQ-worthy mistakes in one race. That, as history has shown all too often although not quite so glaringly, is Ferrari.

Hamilton has yet to comment on his disqualification, and all I can say is welcome to Ferrari, Sir Lewis Hamilton, and you have already had the full experience: the highs, the lows and the did-that-really-happen? moments.

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