New Ferrari driver

Hamilton’s message to fans: “Embrace change”

The question of what Hamilton is still capable of on the track at the age of 40 remains to be answered.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Lewis Hamilton used his first words as the new Ferrari driver to send a message to his millions of fans worldwide: "To everyone who wants to take the next step in 2025: Embrace the change." The record Formula 1 world champion knows what he is talking about. Hamilton is taking a bold step. By switching from Mercedes to Ferrari on Tuesday, the 40-year-old is taking on an enormous challenge.

Like Michael Schumacher, with whom he shares a record seven world championship titles, Hamilton wants to lead the Italians to new fame and, above all, world championships - a project in which other big names have already failed. Fernando Alonso failed to do so as a two-time champion, and Sebastian Vettel also failed to follow up his four titles in the Red Bull with another with Ferrari.

Michael Schumacher

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

The Scuderia's last drivers' title was over 17 years ago. Kimi Räikkönen won it in 2007. The fact that it was Hamilton's first season in Formula 1 and that he missed out on the world championship crown back then, just like Alonso, due to a completely escalated stable duel at McLaren, is part of the Briton's remarkable CV. "I couldn't be more excited," Hamilton wrote on the social network LinkedIn shortly before his 40th birthday. "With the move to Scuderia Ferrari, there's a lot to reflect on."

Most successful driver and most successful team united
The most successful driver in F1 history with seven titles, 105 Grand Prix victories and 104 pole positions and the racing team that still exerts the greatest fascination in the premier class of motorsport are united. Ferrari is the only team to have contested all F1 seasons since 1950 and can point to the most race wins and world championship titles. The legend of the brand has attracted almost all of the sport's icons to Maranello - from Alberto Ascari to Juan-Manuel Fangio and Hamilton's former sponsor Niki Lauda to Schumacher.

The question of what Hamilton is still capable of on the track at the age of 40 remains to be answered. The first indications will come at the end of February during testing in Bahrain, and things will get serious in mid-March at the season opener in Melbourne. Speed problems in qualifying have led some to doubt Hamilton's qualities; the veteran won only five out of 24 qualifying duels with his Mercedes team-mate George Russell last season. In the championship standings, however, he finished only just behind the top talent in seventh place.

New team-mate as a reference point
Ferrari seems to have a winning car for at least the coming season, before the cards are completely reshuffled with the new regulations from 2026. Hamilton's contract at Maranello runs for at least two years, and his new team-mate Charles Leclerc will be the first point of reference. The 27-year-old Monegasque speaks fluent Italian, is fully integrated and wants to finally win the title for the first time in his seventh Ferrari season after eight Grand Prix victories to date.

Hamilton, for whom Carlos Sainz had to vacate the cockpit despite an appealing performance, is new to the team. His past achievements alone will not guarantee him exceptional status. The Englishman will have to deliver. If he succeeds in winning the title, he would once again enter new spheres. Not only because he would then be the sole record champion and surpass Schumacher, who ended a 21-year title drought for Ferrari in 2000.

"At the age of 40, he is ready to write another chapter, perhaps the most fascinating, in his incredible career," said the Gazzetta dello Sport about Hamilton. Addressing his fans and probably also himself a little, the new Ferrari star added in his LinkedIn post: "Remember that reinventing yourself is huge." The next opportunity is always within reach. "Let's make it a year to remember."