Private’ Lewis Hamilton meeting with Ferrari takes place at Maranello – report
Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari debut is edging ever closer
Lewis Hamilton has already paid a “private” visit to Ferrari’s Maranello factory ahead of his arrival from Mercedes for F1 2025, it has been claimed.
Hamilton announced in February this year that he will join Ferrari on a multi-year contract from the F1 2025 season, ending his long and successful association with Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari start date emerges after secret Maranello visit
The British driver claimed six of his joint-record seven World Championships, as well as becoming the first driver in history to reach a century of grand prix wins and pole positions, with Mercedes.
Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz, who has agreed a multi-year contract with Williams from next season, as Charles Leclerc’s team-mate.
Sainz represented his new team in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, with Ferrari agreeing to release the Spaniard early from his contract.
PlanetF1.com revealed earlier this season that a similar scenario was never on the cards for Hamilton, who had long committed to a number of post-season farewell appearances with Mercedes.
Hamilton, who will turn 40 in January, is expected to officially start work late next month following a short break.
Ferrari announced earlier this week that the team’s F1 2025 car – codenamed Project 677 – will be launched on February 19, one day after F1’s official season launch event in London.
And a report by Italian publication Auto Racer has claimed that Hamilton’s first taste of Ferrari machinery will come on either Tuesday January 21 or the following day.
It is yet to be decided whether the seven-time World Champion’s first run will occur behind the wheel of the team’s 2022 car, the F1-75, or the 2023 chassis. F1 rules dictate that only cars older than two years can be used for private testing.
It is said that Hamilton has already paid a secret visit to Maranello ahead of his first season with the Scuderia.
Hamilton’s trip is not thought to be out of the ordinary, with Sainz also visiting the factory in 2020 while he was still officially under contract with McLaren.
A number of design details regarding Project 677 have emerged over recent months, with the team set to switch to a pullrod front suspension layout favoured by the likes of Red Bull and McLaren.
A pullrod front suspension is believed to improve airflow towards the car’s complex underbody, with the floor generating a significant proportion of the car’s overall downforce under the current ground-effect regulations.
The move towards a pullrod front suspension is said to have been directly influenced by Hamilton’s arrival, with his driving style closer in nature to Leclerc than Sainz.
Ferrari are also expected to retain their divisive pullrod rear suspension despite the departure of former technical director Enrico Cardile during the F1 2024 season.
Ferrari and customer outfit Haas are the only two teams still competing with a pullrod rear suspension, with their rivals all opting for a pushrod layout.
It is thought that Ferrari see the pullrod rear suspension as a key factor behind the 2024 car’s excellent tyre management, with Aston Martin-bound Cardile claiming the team found no significant differences between a pullrod and pushrod rear suspension layout when asked by media including PlanetF1.com at the launch of the SF-24 in February.
A revised wheelbase and adjustments to the internal mechanisms of the gearbox are also set to feature on the 2025 Ferrari.
Development of Project 677 is being led by former Mercedes engineer Loic Serra, who was appointed to the role of chassis technical director ahead of his Ferrari arrival in October having initially been recruited to work under Cardile.
Serra is understood to be trusted by Hamilton, having shared the driver’s reservations over the failed zero-pod design concept pursued by Mercedes under former technical director Mike Elliott across 2022/23.