Lewis Hamilton is not yet allowed to drive for Ferrari at the test in Abu Dhabi – first drive in red probably at the beginning of 2025 in an old car, as team boss Fred Vasseur reveals
For his first laps in red, Lewis Hamilton will have to wait until the new year. As has been known for some time, the record world champion will not be allowed to take the wheel in his new colors during the last test of the year after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, because his Mercedes contract officially runs until the end of the year.
The Silver Arrows want to claim the services of the Briton for as long as possible, even if it is only as an advertising medium: like Autosport, Hamilton is to pursue sponsorship activities for team partner Petronas for Mercedes on the Tuesday after the season finale, when the test is due in Abu Dhabi.
So Ferrari will have to wait until 2025 before they can put the new signing in one of their cars – but the team and driver probably won’t have to wait until the test start in Bahrain at the end of February, because the Scuderia is planning to have Hamilton tested in an old car in advance, most likely from the 2022 season.
Vasseur on Hamilton test: “That will be enough”
“I don’t think he needs tons of hours to acclimatize,” Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur jokes about the veteran, revealing to Autosport, ‘He’s experienced enough to be fast on day one, or at least very soon. We’ll have a day or two in the old car, plus the test in Bahrain, and that will be enough,’ Vasseur said.
Formula One’s “used car” rule is clear: Teams may use cars “designed and built to meet the technical regulations” of any of the three (3) calendar years immediately preceding the calendar year prior to the championship.
Translated, the proviso in the FIA regulations means that from this year, teams will be able to use their 2022 cars, and thus, for the first time, vehicles from the current ground-effect generation. Since Ferrari has the luxury of its own test track, Fiorano, on the outskirts of Maranello, the location for Hamilton’s first drive should already be certain.
Vasseur confirms that the planning for this is already underway, although he himself is not involved: “Of course, part of the team is already focused on ’25, on the test plan, communication, and so on – with Lewis as part of it. But that’s not the job of the race team, and it’s not on my mind either,” the Frenchman explains the Scuderia’s preparations for their launch transfer.
