“Best Feeling…”: 7-Time F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton Left In Awe After Maiden Ferrari Test Drive

Lewis Hamilton led a Ferrari Formula One car for the first time on Wednesday after the seven times world champion took the tracking circuit of the team and admitted that it was “one of the best feelings” of his life. The 40 -year -old Briton shocked the paddock last February when he announced, after 12 very successful years with Mercedes, he left for the emblematic Italian team. During a misty morning on the Fiorano test track near the Ferrari Maranello base in the north of Italy, Hamilton turned into a test car carrying the classic red overalls and a distinctive yellow helmet.

“I was lucky to have many first in my career, from the first test to the first race, to the podium, the victory and the championship, so I did not know how many first I had,” said Hamilton.

“But driving a Ferrari car for the first time this morning was one of the best feelings in my life.”

Groups of fans passionate about Ferrari, described as “impressive” by Hamilton, looked in wet weather from a bridge overlooking the track while Hamilton has zipped.

Fans hope that Hamilton will be able to end an expectation of 18 years for an F1 title of pilots which was dominated by Mercedes and Red Bull.

Hamilton only won two Grands Prix – his British victory GP in July ending a two and a half year sequence without a victory – and finished seventh in the 2024 world championship, a mammoth at 214 points behind the winner of the title Max Verstappen.

“When I started the car and crossed this garage door, I had the biggest smile on my face,” added Hamilton.

“It reminded me of the very first time that I tested a Formula One car, it was such an exciting and special moment, and I am, almost 20 years later, feeling these emotions again.”

Hamilton should unveil his 2025 car during the launch of the Ferrari season alongside his teammate Charles Leclerc on February 19 in Maranello, with tests in Bahrain the following week.

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