Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Formula 1, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Charles Leclerc
Tom Jenkins
Topics: Formula 1, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton has requested a major change to the 2025 Ferrari car following his first test drive at the constructor's test track in Fiorano.
Ferrari sent the world of sport into meltdown with the first official image of Hamilton as a Ferrari driver, with the seven-time world champion posed alongside an F40 outside the iconic Maranello farmhouse.
Hamilton took to the track for the first time in a Ferrari on Wednesday, as the Brit took the wheel of the Scuderia's 2023 challenger with Charles Leclerc also getting some laps in.
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Wednesday will have been the first time the 40-year-old has ever had track time in a non-Mercedes-powered Formula 1 car, having started his career at McLaren 2007.
While this may not seem like a major obstacle to overcome, former F1 strategist and Sky Sports analyst Bernie Collins stressed the change will be significant for Hamilton.
"From the outside, they will be very very similar when you think of performance," Collins told SPORTbible.
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"However, how they harvest energy, how they deploy energy, and how that changes between qualifying and the race, all of those things will be different."
The power unit isn't Hamilton's only challenge as there are a staggering amount of differences to get to grips with, but has already asked Ferrari to make a significant change to help him adjust.
According to Autosport Hamilton has asked for some major 'adjustments to the steering wheel' which the team complied with ahead of his first outing.
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It has not been revealed what those changes are, however, it is likely to do with the button layout, with Mercedes likely having a different design to Ferrari.
Drivers have to use their steering wheel for far more than just turning, with settings such as brake bias and fuel usage having to be changed consistently throughout the race.
Having been with the German team for 11 years, Hamilton will be extremely used to his particular steering wheel layout and won't want to hesitate when making setup changes at high speed.