Lewis Hamilton and the Tifosi will have to wait before seeing him board the Ferrari. The seven-time British World Champion, engaged with Mercedes until the end of the 2024 season, should not be able to take the wheel of the SF-24 during the post-season tests which will follow the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The images caused a stir at the very end of the 2022 season when Fernando Alonso took control of an Aston Martin without sponsors a few days after the last Grand Prix of the season. The Spaniard quickly turned the Alpine page, jumping into the still hot seat of Sebastian Vettel who had retired.
This scenario should not, however, repeat itself this year with Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari, in any case what Andrew Benson, BBC journalist, said during his traditional question and answer session. For the latter, there is “none” chance of Lewis Hamilton driving for Ferrari in post-season testing.
Indeed, a page in the modern history of Formula 1 will be turned. This page, or rather this long chapter between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes cannot close without multiple events.
“Hamilton is under contract with Mercedes until the end of the year, and they say he can’t test for Ferrari at the end of the season, because they have a lot of promotion and farewell work to do after 12 years of collaboration – and 18 with Mercedes engines.”
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Meet in Fiorano
We will probably have to wait until February to see Lewis Hamilton take the wheel of a Scuderia Ferrari single-seater. He will have at his disposal old F1 cars from the Italian firm as well as the private Fiorano track.
Hamilton will leave Mercedes after 12 years of good and loyal service. The seven-time world champion has won 84 of his 105 victories with Mercedes and all of them with a star-badged engine (21 victories with McLaren). He also won six of his seven drivers’ titles with the Mercedes team, leaving his mark on the history of the brand and the competition.
His last success with Mercedes dates back to the Belgian Grand Prix, inheriting victory after the disqualification of George Russell. But he also triumphed in front of his home crowd at Silverstone, winning the 2024 British Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
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