Hamilton’s first Ferrari run set to be in a previous F1 car

Lewis Hamilton’s first Formula 1 appearance for Ferrari looks set to be in its 2022 car at the start of next year, with an appearance in the post-season Abu Dhabi test now ruled out.

The seven-time champion is joining the Maranello squad for 2025, as he made a decision at the start of this year to leave Mercedes after what will have been 12 seasons with the German manufacturer.

There had been some hope from Ferrari that bedding in its partnership with Hamilton could get an early head start if Mercedes had released the Briton for the post-season tyre test that takes place in Abu Dhabi on the Tuesday after the F1 season finale in December.

However, Autosport understands that that scenario has now been ruled out, with Mercedes having committed Hamilton to some end-of-year promotional commitments – which includes an appearance for team title sponsor Petronas on the day the Abu Dhabi test takes place.

Hamilton’s lack of availability for the Abu Dhabi test means that Ferrari will have to wait until the start of next year to be able to get him behind the wheel of one of its cars.

Beyond a filming day, a run in the 2025 challenger is not allowed outside of the pre-season Bahrain test, but Ferrari is planning to get Hamilton out in one of its previous cars before then.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said that the provisional idea is to make use of one or two of the squad’s ‘Testing of Previous Cars’ days to give Hamilton his first run, which he thinks will be more than enough to get him up to speed.

“I’m not sure that he needs tons of hours of acclimatisation,” Vasseur told Autosport.

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

F1’s TPC rules allow teams to run cars that were “designed and constructed in order to comply with the Technical Regulations of any of the three (3) calendar years falling immediately prior to the calendar year preceding the year of the championship.”

This means that since this year, teams have been able to run their 2022 cars, the first generation of machinery built for the new ground effect regulations.

Ferrari would most probably hand an outing to Hamilton in its 2022 car, the F1-75, at its own Fiorano test track, which is right next door to its…