Hamilton drives first laps as a Ferrari driver

MILAN: Lewis Hamilton drove a Ferrari Formula One car for the first time on Wednesday after the seven-time world champion took to the track at the team´s test circuit in front of delighted fans.

The 40-year-old Briton shocked the paddock last February when he announced after 12 highly successful years with Mercedes, he was departing for the iconic Italian team. On a foggy morning at the Fiorano test track near Ferrari´s Maranello base in northern Italy, Hamilton shot out in a test car wearing the classic red overalls and a distinctive yellow helmet.

Groups of Ferrari´s passionate fans watched on in the wet weather from a bridge overlooking the track as Hamilton zipped round it. Fans are hoping Hamilton can end an 18-year wait for a drivers´ F1 title which has been dominated by Mercedes and Red Bull. Hamilton won just two Grands Prix, his British GP victory in July ending a two-and-a-half year winless streak, and finished seventh in the 2024 world championship, a mammoth 214 points behind title-winner Max Verstappen.