“This is the one!”

Lewis Hamilton could not hide his excitement as he walked among the road cars in the ‘heritage section’ of Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello, Italy.

As he spotted a bright red Ferrari F40, one of the rarest of the manufacturer’s road cars, in the middle of the floor, he paused. Spreading his hands across the rear spoiler, a smile engulfed his face. He’d found his favorite.

It was this kind of wonder that Hamilton, a seven-time world champion who has seen and won it all in Formula One, sought when he decided to move to Ferrari. For all the success he enjoyed with Mercedes, nothing could match the history and the magic of F1’s most iconic team.

The moment he had dreamed about since childhood, becoming a Ferrari driver, had finally arrived.

Day one at Maranello had been almost a year in the making for Hamilton. Since announcing his shock decision to quit Mercedes after 12 seasons, he endured a difficult and, by his own admission, occasionally awkward final year. Closing that chapter in Abu Dhabi may have been emotional, yet Hamilton knew it was giving way to something new and exciting.

To mark the start of this era, uniting F1’s most successful driver and most successful team, every detail had to be meticulously planned. Ferrari F1 team principal Fred Vasseur was reluctant to have a big presentation or media event, not wishing to add any extra work or distraction to the team’s plate amid its preparations for the new season.

But it had to make Hamilton’s first week at Maranello memorable.

The F40 housed in the ‘old’ side of Ferrari’s factory — the headquarters is split between the historic part of the facility, noted by its yellow buildings and walls, and the ‘new’ side that is red — was wheeled through the Italian drizzle to the Piazza Michael Schumacher, named after the great who won five of his seven F1 titles for Ferrari. On it stands the house of Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the legendary manufacturer who had watched many legends sample his red cars from the window. History resides wherever you turn at Maranello.

Hamilton met with Vasseur and Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna before posing for photos outside the house next to the F40. Even Hamilton’s outfit for the day had been carefully planned by his stylist, Eric McNeal, right down to his red-soled Louboutin boots. The first official pictures of Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari F1 driver, quickly went viral and became the most-liked photo on F1’s Instagram page in less than 24 hours, as well as gracing all the front pages of the Italian sports newspapers the next morning.

Hamilton also made time to visit the fans, Ferrari’s loyal tifosi, who had congregated outside the factory gates at Maranello since the early morning hours, desperate to glimpse their new hero on his first day.

While at McLaren and Mercedes, Hamilton struck a strong bond with his fans (known as ‘Team LH’) and wants to rekindle that kind of relationship at Ferrari.

“I don’t know really what to expect, but I’m really looking forward to connecting with that community,” Hamilton said in a press conference last August. Taking a few minutes with fans to pose for pictures and offer signatures as they chanted his name was a good first gesture. It created a bystander out of Ferrari president John Elkann, one of the key brokers in signing Hamilton and perhaps the most powerful figure at Ferrari.

A lot rests on 2025 for both Ferrari and Hamilton. Ferrari missed out on its first constructors’ championship since 2008 by just 14 points, while Hamilton is still searching for a record-breaking eighth world title. His struggles with the Mercedes car through 2024 made for a season of lagging behind teammate George Russell. Shaking off that funk and proving he still has the edge that once made him near-impossible to beat at the peak of his powers in F1 is a critical part of this move.

It made Hamilton’s time getting to know his new colleagues through a factory tour and subsequent meetings on Monday and Tuesday vitally important. Hamilton always took strength from the closeness of his relationships with his teammates at Mercedes, particularly with his race engineer, Peter Bonnington, who he likened to a brother. Taking over that role will be Riccardo Adami, who was the engineer for Carlos Sainz (the Spaniard affectionately nicknamed Adami ‘Ricky’) as well as four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, and will now be the voice on the end of the radio to Hamilton through races.

Hamilton suiting up for his first test at Fiorano. (Ferrari)

Ferrari planned Hamilton’s first on-track outing behind the wheel of its 2023 car for Wednesday at its private test track, Fiorano, which is adjacent to the factory. But it was always weather-dependent, making it hard to predict in the depths of January in northern Italy.

Preparations through Monday and Tuesday included a seat fitting and sampling Ferrari’s simulator, giving Hamilton a chance to feel, at least virtually, how his new car would perform. One of his great struggles through 2024 was feeling confident and balanced with the car, particularly under braking with his late, aggressive style. Over a single lap, Hamilton often failed to get the most out of the car. The simulator will have at least given a first read of what he can expect from the Ferrari this year, even if nothing compares to the real thing.

Hamilton’s new race helmet design for this year returns to the yellow he first used as a child in go-karts to allow his father, Anthony, to easily spot him on the track. Shots of the helmet, as well as Hamilton posing in the classic red Ferrari race suit for the first time, were shared with the world, building up excitement before his first on-track running. All that was required was for the weather to play ball.

Driving a two-year-old F1 car on a misty, cold day around a short test circuit may not have the hallmarks of a special moment, but for Hamilton, this was a day he had dreamt of since playing as Michael Schumacher on video games as a teenager, wondering what it might be like to be in the cockpit of the red car someday.

Just as it was for Schumacher at Fiorano at the end of 1995 ahead of his move to Ferrari for the following season, Hamilton’s maiden outing was both understated and poignant. After changing into his new red race suit in Enzo Ferrari’s house, Hamilton walked over to the simple garage setup next to the track, no bigger than a gas station forecourt (and branded like one, thanks to team partner Shell) and was greeted by his team. As the engineers ran through the processes, Hamilton scribbled down things to remember into a small notebook.

Hamilton and Ferrari’s crew hit the ground running this week (Ferrari)

There were a number of new faces in Ferrari gear for Hamilton to get to know, but a few watched on with added fondness, including dad Anthony. Vasseur had worked with Hamilton in junior categories and they always remained friendly, paving the way for their reunion almost 20 years later. Jerome d’Ambrosio, the deputy team principal, and Loic Serra, the chassis technical director, both worked at Mercedes when Hamilton was there.

But maybe the most essential and surprising returnee was Angela Cullen, Hamilton’s former trainer and performance coach.

Hamilton and Cullen worked together for seven years before suddenly splitting just two races into the 2023 season. Cullen had been a core part of Hamilton’s inner circle, overseeing his physical preparations and helping him ahead of races. She spent last year working in IndyCar but is now back with Hamilton’s team after signing with Project 44, his management company that looks after his business interests. Her return is important for Hamilton, who will take comfort in having some familiarity during the big adjustment that comes with joining a new team.

At 9:16 a.m., Hamilton peeled out of the garage and onto the track. At last, he was a Ferrari F1 driver. Fans and TV cameras had gathered at a couple of vantage points overlooking Fiorano to catch a glimpse of the famous #44 emblazoned on the Ferrari, including one on a bridge next to a busy road. No length is too great for the tifosi.

Testing an old car would not have given Hamilton much in terms of accurate readings of how the new season may go, yet it at least offered the chance to adjust to Ferrari’s way of working. The SF-23 car, the only non-Red Bull winner of 2023, offered a first understanding of the power delivery of the Ferrari engine and the functions of the steering wheel, both of which will differ from what he was used to at Mercedes.

Hamilton only managed 30 laps through a handful of runs in the morning, completing an installation run on wet tires before switching to slicks, and there were images of him locking up at points, yet it was never about outright pace or performance. The race drivers are limited to 1,000km of private test running in old cars through the year, meaning Hamilton’s 89km run, followed by teammate Charles Leclerc’s 42km run in the afternoon, leaves plenty of room for more ahead of the new season. A further outing is planned for Hamilton in Barcelona in the coming weeks before his first run in the 2025 car on February 19 at Fiorano, one day after the F1 season launch event at The O2 in London.

Neither the limited running nor the weather would stop his Ferrari debut from being, to quote Hamilton, “one of the best feelings of my life.”

Once his run was complete, he was taken in a black Alfa Romeo road car to get out and wave at the dozens of fans who stood behind one of the fences. His mother, Carmen, stood taking photos on her phone. Watching her son in Ferrari red for the first time, she drank in the moment. Hamilton could not help but break into a smile at the chants of, “Olé!, olé, olé, olé! Lewis, Lewis!” that greeted him. The tifosi have already warmed to Hamilton, instantly becoming their new hero.

“I already knew from the outside how passionate the Ferrari family is, from everyone in the team to the tifosi,” Hamilton said. “To now witness it firsthand as a Ferrari driver has been awe-inspiring. That passion runs through their veins and you can’t help but be energized by it.”

Ferrari perfectly balanced making Hamilton’s arrival a ‘moment’ without detracting from the focus, which must be on its performance. It knows how important this year will be coming off the back of a 2024 season that will go down as a near-miss but also a big swell in momentum that has ignited hopes just at the right time. As much as this week featured public nods to the new beginning, the behind-the-scenes work and adjustment was what really mattered to Hamilton.

It is a week that will have rekindled a lot of Hamilton’s love and passion for F1. As committed as he was to the Mercedes project, even through the toughest of times, the on-track difficulties caused that flame to flicker.

This change to a new, ambitious project, one which carries the weight of an expectant fanbase, a nation’s sporting pride and the history of those who’ve come and succeeded before in Ferrari red is precisely what Hamilton needed.

Now, it’s about working hard to make the adjustment as smooth as possible, before his full debut in Australia on March 16 truly begins his Ferrari era.

Top photo: Clive Rose, Alessandro Bremec via Getty Images; Design: Will Tullos/The Athletic