Lewis Hamilton has tipped Ferrari to emerge victorious in the 2025 Formula 1 season after launching their new car ahead of the season opener.
Hamilton joined Ferrari at the end of the 2024 season after spending 12 years with Mercedes, capping it off with a record-breaking ninth British Grand Prix victory in 2024.
The 40-year-old will team up with Charles Leclerc in a bid to deliver the first Ferrari world champion since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.
He is confident that the team is blessed with the quality to end the drought in the new season.
Hamilton said: “From seeing the passion, everything under one roof, which I’ve never experienced before, this team has absolutely every ingredient to win.
“But we’re also aware we have to continue to work. We have to improve and elevate everywhere – not everywhere but in certain areas, and I have no doubt that we can do that.
Hamilton resumed work with Ferrari last month in a bid to quickly adjust to his new team.
He said: “I have genuinely loved every day I have been here.
“It’s a place you genuinely don’t really want to leave in the day. Everything’s here. Even my motorhome is here so I don’t ever leave.
“[We are] getting everything set up so when we get to race one it is not hopefully the first six months that you are getting this tuned, you already have them ready.
“So we have put a huge amount of work into that, and also trying to speed up the process of getting to know each other and how they like to work and how I like to work.
“You can’t really short-cut that, you build trust and relationships over time, as you know, But every day’s been exciting, I literally wake up with excitement every day.”
This will be the first time in Hamilton’s 18-year F1 career that he has driven a car that does not use a Mercedes engine.
Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers’ Championship titles—tied with Michael Schumacher—and holds the records for most wins (105), pole positions (104), and podium finishes (202).
The official F1 pre-season test starts from 26-28 February.
The first race of the season is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 14-16 March.
