Lewis Hamilton will follow in the footsteps of four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel when he makes his Ferrari test debut later today (Wednesday).
After his first public appearance at the team’s Maranello factory on Monday, Hamilton’s preparations for his first season as a Ferrari driver will step up a gear on January 22 as he receives his first taste of Ferrari grand prix machinery.
Lewis Hamilton’s Fiorano test mirrors Sebastian Vettel’s late 2014 outing
Hamilton is expected to drive the F1-75, the car driven in competition by new team-mate Charles Leclerc and predecessor Carlos Sainz during the 2022 season, the first year of F1’s ground-effect regulations.
F1 rules dictate that only cars older than two years can be driven in TPC [Testing of Previous Car] tests, with Hamilton’s run set to be followed by a second outing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the home of F1’s Spanish Grand Prix, next week.
Hamilton’s maiden outing comes a little over a decade since Vettel also appeared at Fiorano in his first test for Ferrari following his move from Red Bull.
Analysis: Lewis Hamilton joins Ferrari from Mercedes for F1 2025
👉 Lewis Hamilton now finally has a chance to escape the ghosts of Abu Dhabi 2021
👉 Four reasons why Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari makes so much sense
Vettel announced in late 2014 that he would leave Red Bull for Ferrari for 2015, replacing McLaren-bound Fernando Alonso.
Unlike Hamilton, who was forced to wait until his Mercedes contract officially expired on December 31 2024 before linking up with his new employers, Vettel was granted an early release from his contract by Red Bull, having stormed to four consecutive World Championships with the Milton Keynes team between 2010 and 2013.
It meant that just six days after his final appearance for Red Bull at the 2014 season finale in Abu Dhabi, Vettel was on track in a Ferrari at Fiorano.
Sebastian Vettel’s first Ferrari test took place at Fiorano in late 2014
Vettel’s first Ferrari outing came behind the wheel of the F2012, the car with which Alonso lost the title – to Vettel – by a margin of three points in 2012.
The significance of the occasion was not lost on Vettel, who appeared in a plain-white helmet painted with the date of the test (29.11.14) and a short message in Italian: ‘Il mio Primo giorno in Ferrari’ (‘my first day in Ferrari’).
Vettel, who regarded Ferrari icon and seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher as his boyhood idol, completed almost 100 laps during the test and later issued a statement via Ferrari’s official website.
He said: “Obviously it’s been a fantastic day to come here.
“There are a lot of fairy tales about Ferrari and how it feels to drive a red car. In the end I can only confirm these fairytales.
“It’s not just a story, it’s a true legend that exists and it feels really, really special to become part of that, and to be inside the car, to see the people coming, running to the track and trying to climb the walls to see the car.
“There is definitely something very magical – and something that happened today which I will never forget.
“I was here a long time ago as a little child, driving through Maranello and trying to look over the fence and trying to see a glimpse of Michael running on the track.
“Well today I was the one running and saw the tifosi around.
“To be here officially as part of the team felt fantastic.
“Obviously it’s a very different colour for me – everybody is dressed in red, everything is red – but it’s really something special and I’m very much looking forward to the challenge that we took on for the next years.”
Vettel enjoyed a fine first season with Ferrari in 2015, claiming three victories – in Malaysia, Hungary and Singapore – en route to third place in the Drivers’ standings behind Hamilton, who claimed a third World Championship, and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
The German claimed a total of 14 victories with Ferrari in a five-year spell, but was unable to add a fifth title to his tally having been thwarted by Hamilton in 2017 and 2018.
Vettel left Ferrari at the end of 2020 and retired from F1 at the conclusion of the 2022 season after a two-year stint with Aston Martin.
More on Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari
Riccardo Adami, Vettel’s race engineer throughout his Ferrari career, is set to be the new voice in Hamilton’s ear in F1 2025.
Adami previously worked with Sainz, who has joined Williams ahead of the new season having been forced to make way for Hamilton.
PlanetF1.com revealed last summer that Hamilton’s long-serving race engineer at Mercedes, Peter Bonnington, would not be following the seven-time World Champion to Ferrari having been promoted to head of race engineering at the Brackley-based team.
Bonnington is still expected to act as race engineer to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the Bologna-born teenage sensation who was confirmed as Hamilton’s successor at Mercedes at last year’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Reports last year claimed that Hamilton had called Vettel shortly after his move to Ferrari was confirmed to gain an initial impression of Adami. Vettel is understood to have given his former race engineer a glowing endorsement.
Vettel gave his blessing to Hamilton’s move to Ferrari when it was confirmed last year, admitting that he did not believe the rumours of the seven-time World Champion’s Mercedes exit at first.
And he warned that the early days at a new team can be the trickiest as drivers are forced to adjust to their new surroundings.
Vettel told Sky Germany: “He has been around for a very long time, has a lot of experience and has had more success in his career than any other Formula 1 driver.
“He will cope with it, but the transition to a new team is always difficult, especially at the beginning.
“Many familiar faces that you have known for many years are gone, and you have to get used to the new environment, but he will be able to cope with it.
“I was very sceptical [of the news] at first and thought it wasn’t true.
“But then there was something to it and I am very happy for Lewis.”
Read next: Lewis Hamilton: The new superstar that Formula 1 was looking for