The next day, Lewis Hamilton got behind the wheel of an old Ferrari, decked out in the No. 44 that is so dear to him, to do a few laps of the prancing horse’s private track in Fiorano. Hamilton wore his new Bell helmet in “Giallo Modena”, the other emblematic color of the Italian brand.
LH44 received a warm welcome from fans who are counting heavily on the ex-Mercedes driver to take the Scuderia to glory alongside Charles Leclerc.
“There are days that you know you will remember forever and today, my first as a Ferrari driver, is one of them,” Hamilton said on Instagram.
-“I’ve been lucky enough to achieve things in my career that I never thought possible, but a part of me has always held on to that dream of riding in red. I couldn’t be happier to achieve this dream today.”
If Hamilton is in fact the first British driver to have raced for the Reds since Ollie Bearman who took part in the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP replacing Carlos Sainz, he is the first British national to be started full time since the Northern Irishman Eddie Irvine who raced alongside Michael Schumacher between 1996 and 1999. Hamilton is also the first English driver since Nigel Mansell in 1989 and 1990 to be established at Maranello for a full season.
