When Lewis Hamilton put on his Ferrari race suit for the first time ahead of his maiden test for the team last month, he needed a moment to adjust to his new look.

While putting on a set of overalls is automatic for racing drivers, completed thousands of times through their careers, donning the iconic red of Ferrari is an honor bestowed on so few. And after 12 years in the silver and black of Mercedes, this was a big change for Hamilton.

At last, he was in Ferrari red. The excitement and anticipation he felt had been long in the making. Now, after F1’s season launch in London and his first test in the 2025 car, it is a reality.

Such wonder is something only Ferrari can stir. No matter how many world championships or races you win, the feeling of being part of F1’s most famed, successful team is unmatched. It’s what made Hamilton want to make the move and why he has radiated excitement since starting at Maranello in the middle of January.

Nearing the new season and the official start of his next chapter, Hamilton’s enthusiasm has shown zero sign of subsiding. After a sobering final year with Mercedes that appeared to sap some of the fizz from his love for F1, often hamstrung by an underperforming car, Hamilton has a fresh spring in his step.

He’s revitalized. Renewed. And, importantly, he is hopeful the record-breaking eighth world championship he came within one lap of winning in 2021 is within his sights once again at Ferrari.

“They’ve got absolutely every ingredient they need to win a world championship,” Hamilton said. “It’s just about putting all the pieces together.”

Adjusting to a new environment is not something Hamilton has done a lot during his F1 career.

Unlike more journeymen F1 drivers — on Tuesday, Carlos Sainz noted he’s driven for half the grid in 10 years — Hamilton is moving to just his third team. It will be the first time he has driven without Mercedes engines and the first time he’s not racing for an English team.

“This step is huge,” Hamilton said on Wednesday after his first test in Ferrari’s new car. “It couldn’t be any bigger.” There’s been plenty of adjustment, ranging from the vibration of the Ferrari engine behind him to the different steering wheel functions and processes. Hamilton feels a newfound appreciation for drivers who have made those switches and been successful immediately, but he is embracing the change.

“Every day, I’m experiencing something new, which actually is really exciting,” Hamilton said.

That includes learning Italian. While Ferrari conducts all of its meetings in English, Hamilton started taking Italian lessons last year to interact better with his mechanics and engineers, like chit-chatting about day-to-day life. Learning a new language has always been one of Hamilton’s dreams. He even gave a speech in Italian at Ferrari’s factory last week and is eager to immerse himself in Italian culture — including the food. “Last week, I had three pizzas,” Hamilton revealed, noting that while he has indeed lost weight, he knew he could not keep that up.

The effort Hamilton has made with his new colleagues has not gone unnoticed. On his first day visiting the factory, he tried to meet and shake hands with all 1,500 team members. “He’s quite amazing with people,” said Jerome d’Ambrosio, Ferrari’s new deputy team principal who worked with Hamilton at Mercedes. “The team already loves him after the first day.”

Hamilton has also enjoyed many aspects that make Ferrari unique, such as having the entire team under one roof — Mercedes’ engine facility was a 40-minute drive from the F1 team headquarters — and even a test track on its doorstep.

Hamilton is also already working well with his new teammate, Charles Leclerc. While the pair had chatted in the past, it was only upon Hamilton’s official start at Ferrari that they could start working together. They’re already playing games of chess against each other, even during Tuesday’s F1 75 Live event at The O2 — Hamilton is 3-2 up, according to Leclerc. They’re showing signs of a good partnership.

“The first weeks of collaboration between the two is mega-good,” said Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur. “I’m not surprised at all. We are starting in very good shape now. The most important thing is to keep this relationship, to continue to work as a team, and to push as a team.”

Vasseur said Hamilton was the “perfect fit” for Ferrari right now, while Leclerc thought the Briton was joining at the ideal point as the team’s mentality is now stronger than ever, in part thanks to Vasseur’s leadership. No longer in a rebuild, the championship is a realistic goal for Ferrari.

“The fact Lewis has joined the team has been a big boost and has been amazing in so many ways,” Leclerc said. “But I feel like the team is very, very calm and very calm and very clear in what is the direction to work in and not getting too affected by everything that is going on around the team. That is extremely important and great to see.”

What matters most is how Hamilton performs when the new F1 season begins and how Ferrari compares to the competition.

Hamilton was adamant Ferrari had all the ingredients to win the world championship for the first time since 2008. The team only fell 14 points shy of the constructors’ crown last year, losing to McLaren. An incredibly fine margin — but a decisive one. Entering a season where Vasseur expects four teams to be in contention for race wins, every last thousandth of a second will matter.

“It’s not a matter of changing the car completely or whatever,” said Vasseur. “If we are able to bring a small bit of performance on one or two topics, it’s already a huge step forward. And Lewis is coming with his own experience, with his own background. He will help the team to develop in every single area.”

Ferrari opted for one major design change with its 2025 car: switching from a push-rod suspension to a pull-rod design, believing it would clean up the airflow around the car and allow for greater aerodynamic development after it had exhausted all areas with last year’s model. Although the SF-25 is an evolution of last year’s model and the overall car concept remains the same, reducing the learning curve the team will go through, every single part is new.

Even if Hamilton has confidence in Ferrari’s title-winning ability, he noted just how fierce the competition is set to be this year. “It’s far too early to know what the year is going to be like,” Hamilton said. “What we do know is that it’s going to be very close between the top teams. We’ve not seen the other cars; we’ve not been on the track with the other cars.”

Lewis Hamilton greets fans at the end of the day’s running at Fiorano Circuit on February 19, 2025. (Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)

An eighth drivers’ title is the goal, but Hamilton’s appreciation for Ferrari runs deep and he knows how significant ending the team’s title drought will be — if anything, more significant given how invested everyone at Maranello (and across Italy) is to make it happen. “That’s what I’m working towards,” he said. “I don’t think about the number eight. I’m thinking about the first championship that the team has won for some time.”

Hamilton knows how much hard work still lies ahead to get ready for the new season, but the spark he has rediscovered with this move to Ferrari is obvious from every single interaction. It has given him a fresh lease of life in many ways. At 40, there is no sign he is thinking about how his F1 career may end. He feels young and remains in peak physical condition. And this new project is only spurring him on.

“The energy that I’m receiving from the team, there’s magic here,” Hamilton said. “It’s going to still take a lot of hard work and grafting from absolutely everyone and everyone is putting that in already to achieve it.

“But it’s also about belief. Everyone here dreams of winning with Ferrari, every single person in this team.”

After a difficult few years, that belief is coming back to Lewis Hamilton. The coming weeks will reveal just how genuine his title chances are in his first year in red. But for now, things feel good.

“I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be,” Hamilton said. “It feels natural, it feels right.”

(Top photo of Lewis Hamilton: Sam Bloxham/Getty Images)