Hamilton has first test in Ferrari F1 car at Fiorano

Lewis Hamilton has had his first experience of a Ferrari Formula 1 car at the team’s Fiorano test track.

The 40-year-old seven-time champion tested a 2023 car on Wednesday as part of his acclimatisation work with his new team.

His test follows two days of work at the Ferrari factory in Maranello, of which the Fiorano track is a part.

Hamilton’s running was complete by shortly after 11:00 local time (10:00 GMT). Team-mate Charles Leclerc will drive the car in the afternoon as he begins to get back up to speed after the winter break.

Ferrari will release more information about Hamilton’s running later on Wednesday.

Hamilton will be limited to a total of 1,000km (621 miles) of what is known as testing of previous cars running by F1’s regulations.

The test will help him learn the way the Ferrari engine operates and allow him to build trust and working practices with his new race engineer Riccardo Adami and the rest of the team.

Adami worked with Carlos Sainz for the last four years and before that four-time champion Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton has driven only Mercedes engines throughout his 18-year F1 career.

Modern F1 engines are 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrids with sophisticated energy recovery systems and complicated control processes, many of which are operated by the driver in the cockpit.

Although the multiple power and performance modes of the various engines are all designed to do similar things, each manufacturer has different software and operating procedures, with drivers requiring time to become familiarised.

The test is being held behind close doors. It has drawn significant attention and there are crowds of fans standing on the bridge overlooking Fiorano for a glimpse of the team’s new driver.

The test is running in cold, foggy conditions, which are quite typical of January in Emilia-Romagna.

Hamilton is also expected to test at Spain’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in the coming weeks before experiencing the team’s 2025 model at its launch on 19 February.

Hamilton’s first official public appearance as a Ferrari driver will be on 18 February at the launch of the F1 season at the O2 in London, which all the teams and drivers are required to attend.

Three days of official pre-season testing in Bahrain will start on 26 February, before the start of the season at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 14-16 March.