Hamilton joins Ferrari following a 12-year stint at Mercedes that netted him six of his seven world championships.
The 40-year-old arrives in Maranello on a two-year contract in the twilight of his career. He is looking to secure a record-breaking eighth world championship, which he believes he can do with the famous Italian marque.
“I’ve worked with two world championship-winning teams before; I know what a winning team that looks and feels like,” Hamilton explained.
“The passion here is like nothing you’ve ever seen.
“They’ve got absolutely every ingredient they need to win a world championship and it’s just about putting all these pieces together.”
That process began for Hamilton upon his arrival at Ferrari last month and took an important step forward on Wednesday with the shakedown of the SF-25, the team’s 2025 car.
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Hamilton and Charles Leclerc put their new steed through its paces at the squad’s Fiorano test track ahead of pre-season running in Bahrain next week.
“It’s completely different,” Hamilton said of the experience behind the wheel versus what he’d grown accustomed to at Mercedes.
“I didn’t expect… I thought, it’s another Formula 1 car.
“When I went [from] McLaren to Mercedes there were similarities, but I guess it’s still powered by Mercedes, so the sound, the vibration was all the same, was similar.
“Whilst [there were] slightly different characteristics of car, this is a step, you know, with the whole thing being completely different.
“It’s a really exciting experience.”
The early laps in the new car offered useful data for the team but precious little insight into how it might perform against its rivals.
Ferrari was second to McLaren in last year’s constructors’ championship having mounted a late charge for the title.
The Scuderia is expected to contend against this year, though McLaren is the early favourite while both Mercedes and Red Bull look poised to challenge for race wins.
“It’s far too early to know what the year is going to be like,” Hamilton reasoned.
“What we do know is it’s going to be very close between the top teams.
“We’ve not seen the other cars, we’ve obviously not been on track with all the other cars.
“To have this team all under one roof, is quite a unique experience that I’ve not had before.
“To have a track outside the factory is quite incredible.
“We know we have a huge amount of work to do. I know that I have a huge amount of work to do.
“I’ve only been here a month, or just over a month, so I’m still acclimatizing to a completely new car, completely new way of working, but everyone’s bent over backwards in this team to make me feel welcome, and I really feel at home.
“I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. It feels natural, it feels it feels right.”
Following Ferrari’s shakedown outing in Italy, the team will head to Bahrain for pre-season testing, starting next Wednesday.
From there, it’s on to Australia for the opening round of the season in Melbourne on March 13-16.
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