Lewis Hamilton is confident Ferrari has everything it needs to win the Formula One world championship, saying the “magic” at the team makes him more hopeful than ever of a record eighth title.
Hamilton, 40, got his first chance to drive Ferrari’s new car for the 2025 season in a short shakedown test at its private test track in Italy on Wednesday following his shock winter move.
The seven-time world champion struggled through his final three seasons with Mercedes, winning only two grands prix in that period due to an underperforming car that was not capable of putting him in contention for the drivers’ title.
Hamilton has spoken about feeling “invigorated” since joining Ferrari, and explained following the launch of its car that he thought the team had all it needed to win a first title since 2008.
“I’ve worked with two world championship-winning teams before, I know what a winning team looks and feels like,” Hamilton said at a news conference following the launch of Ferrari’s car for 2025. “The passion here is like nothing you’ve ever seen. They’ve got absolutely every ingredient they need to win a world championship. It’s just about putting all the pieces together.”
Hamilton has been seeking to move clear of Michael Schumacher’s tally of seven drivers’ titles since 2021, when he lost to Max Verstappen on the final lap of the season in Abu Dhabi amid controversy following a fumbling of the rulebook by the race director.
Plenty of Ferrari fans were in attendance at Wednesday’s launch in Modenese (Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)
Asked by The Athletic if he now felt more hopeful than ever of winning the eighth title, Hamilton replied: “Yes. Yes. But I’m also aware, there’s a lot of drivers that never, ever get to win a world championship, first and foremost.
“I’ve been fortunate to work in two teams previously, work in great organizations, and you see in the history of the sport where you’ve got great teams and things don’t align, and they end up, some of them not winning world championships.
“But this team already has an insane legacy. And they’re not short of how many world championships they’ve won. So I think in their DNA, they have that winning mentality.
“The competition is fierce, and there have been great results from other iconic winning teams, at McLaren, now Red Bull and obviously Mercedes. It’s going to be close at the top.
“But I’ve got a great teammate. The energy that I’m receiving from the team, there’s magic here. And it’s going to still take a lot of hard work and grafting from absolutely everyone, and everyone is putting that in already, to achieve it.
“But it’s also about belief. Everyone here dreams of winning with Ferrari, everyone single person in this team.”
Hamilton will get his first extended outing in Ferrari’s new car for the 2025 season, the SF-25, when collective pre-season testing begins in Bahrain on February 25.
The Briton will split duties over the three-day test with teammate Charles Leclerc before making his first race start as a Ferrari driver on March 16 in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
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(Top photo: Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)
