Hamilton Ferrari F1 debut details revealed

Lewis Hamilton is set to make his Ferrari F1 debut in an older car from the Italian outfit as part of a private test outing early next year.

The opportunity for Hamilton will come before he steps behind the wheel of the 2025 Ferrari challenger during pre-season testing from Bahrain in late February.

Hamilton confirmed earlier this year that he would bring his long-standing relationship with Mercedes to an end and link up with Ferrari next season.

Ferrari had hoped to get Hamilton behind the wheel of its car at the post-season Abu Dhabi test - however, that prospect now appears to be fully ruled out.

As it attempts to prepare him for his new environment, Ferrari is planning a private outing for Hamilton - most likely at Fiorano - prior to pre-season testing.

“I'm not sure that he needs tons of hours of acclimatisation,” Vasseur told Motorsport.com.

“He is experienced enough to be quick on the first day, or at least very soon. We'll have one or two TPC [Testing of Previous Cars] days, plus the test in Bahrain, and that will be enough.”

Teams are allowed to run F1 cars that are at least two years old outside of official test and race weekend sessions.

It means Hamilton will be eligible to jump behind the wheel of the 2022 Ferrari car, the first built under the current set of technical regulations.

Vasseur has confirmed Ferrari is already preparing for next year as it looks to mount a title challenge with Hamilton on board.

“For sure we have part of the team already focusing on 2025, on the test plan, on the communication and so, with Lewis being part of this,” he stated. 

“But not on the race team and it's not on my mind.”