Lewis Hamilton is expected to receive his debut outing in the Ferrari SF-25 on the same day the team launches the car that it will start the 2025 Formula 1 campaign with.
Hamilton, who turned 40 last month, is embarking on a new venture in 2025 having decided to end his illustrious association with Mercedes to make the move to Ferrari.
The Briton will be present alongside new team-mate Charles Leclerc at the O2 Arena in London on February 18 as Ferrari and the other nine teams reveal their 2025 liveries.
However, the Italian marque will showcase the design scheme, which is set to comprise a darker red compared to its predecessor, on the car the team ran in 2024, the SF-24.
But the public won’t have long to wait to see Ferrari’s actual 2025 machine as the squad has announced that it will unveil the SF-25 to the world in Maranello the very next day.
According to AutoRacer, Ferrari will then grant both Hamilton and Leclerc the chance to turn laps in the new car around the team’s neighbouring Fiorano testing track.
This will maintain the tradition that Ferrari has adopted, but other sides have opted to break with convention and head to Bahrain for a shakedown prior to pre-season testing.
Hamilton and Leclerc, though, will be limited to 200 kilometres between them as the run in a current-spec car will be counted as one of Ferrari’s two allotted filming days in 2025.
Nevertheless, the appearance will provide Hamilton more time to get familiarised with the Ferrari engine and give him an initial impression of how the SF-25 handles.
Ferrari to have ‘completely new’ car in 2025
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has divulged that the 2025 car will share minimal components with the SF-24 as the team endeavours to go one better this season and claim a title.
The Maranello-based squad won five times in 2024, but that wasn’t enough to take the Constructors’ Championship as it wound up 14 points behind McLaren after 24 rounds.
“If it will be competitive, we’ll find out in Bahrain [pre-season testing],” Vasseur told media including Motorsport Week last December following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“Sometimes you don’t realise you’re taking risks until afterward. The car will be completely new; I think we’ll have less than one per cent of the parts in common with the 2024 car.
“It’s a different project, but the same applies to everyone.
“We can’t say now if 2025 will be our year, but I trust the project we’re working on.
“It will still be an intense challenge like the one we just completed. I am very proud of how we tackled difficulties this year, but we must take another step towards consistency.”
Hamilton’s Ferrari preparations
Hamilton has undergone an extensive test programme to prepare for his opening campaign in red, which began last month with an outing in the 2023 SF-23 at Fiorano.
The seven-time F1 champion was in action again in that same car in Barcelona last week, but his run plan came to a premature end as he crashed on the second morning.
Hamilton was unhurt having lost the car in the final sector, though the damage to the car was so extensive that Ferrari had to cancel Leclerc’s planned laps later that day.
The Monegasque made up the lost time earlier this week as he drove the SF-23 alongside Hamilton, who was testing in a modified SF-24 using Pirelli’s 2026 tyres.
Hamilton and Leclerc split the driving duties across the two days, racking up a combined 321 laps, while McLaren was also in action at Pirelli’s request with a ‘mule’ MCL60 car.
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