by Morgan Piontek
A new era has begun as Lewis Hamilton is officially a Scuderia Ferrari Formula One driver. About a year ago, the F1 community was shocked with the announcement that the seven-time world champion would be driving for Ferrari in 2025. Rumors had circulated, but no one would have expected Hamilton to leave his tenured seat at Mercedes to join the Prancing Horse. After a partnership with Mercedes that included 12 seasons, 84 victories, 153 podium finishes and six world titles all in 246 starts, Hamilton achieved the most successful partnership in F1 history.
A coveted seat for any of the 20 drivers in the paddock, Hamilton chose to fulfill a childhood dream and make a run at his eighth world title with the Maranello based squad. Partnering Charles Leclerc, it’s one of the strongest driver pairings on the grid for the 2025 season. Leclerc joined Ferrari in 2019 with only one season of F1 experience, that being his stunning rookie season with Sauber in 2018. With the longest contract in Ferrari’s history, he’s eager to make his dream come true: winning a championship with Ferrari. It’s hard to forget his stand-out victories in 2024, including breaking his bad luck around his hometown of Monaco, taking victory in Ferrari’s backyard in Monza, as well as a dominant victory in Austin, Texas. If Ferrari can create a championship worthy car, Leclerc could be a definite front runner.
Carlos Sainz Jr, who’d been living the dream with Ferrari for four years, had to make way for Hamilton knowing it was never going to be Leclerc who would be replaced. The “Smooth Operator” achieved four victories with Ferrari, his most notable coming from Singapore 2023 and his final win in red in Mexico 2024. He joins Williams for 2025, looking to bring them back to the front of the field.
Ferrari didn’t jump into posting Hamilton content right away after the 2024 season ended. They made sure Sainz got a worthy goodbye with posts and thank-you messages. But as soon as 2025 began, Ferrari started the excitement of the Hamilton partnership with an intriguing and strategic social media strategy. Different posts hinted at the long-awaited Hamilton-in-red photos, and in the third week of January, the internet broke with the hard launch of Hamilton on Ferrari’s Instagram.
The photo featured Hamilton sharply dressed in a suit, a Ferrari F40 parked next to him while Enzo Ferrari’s house loomed in the background. The photo has accumulated 5.6 million likes, making it the most-liked F1 related Instagram post, surpassing Leclerc’s 4.6 million liked post from his 2024 Monza victory.
There’s a much bigger story to the photo, though, with subtle details hinting at his next chapter. Seven windows were open in Enzo’s house which could allude to his seven world titles (one with McLaren, six with Mercedes). The red door in the center is the opening to his potential record-breaking eighth title which he hopes to achieve with Ferrari.
Subsequent images have been posted of Hamilton as his Ferrari era is in full effect. Many fans think he was always meant to be wearing red while others aren’t used to the new overalls quite yet. Hamilton at Mercedes was an iconic era, one that was etched into the history books. His goodbye to Mercedes in Abu Dhabi at the end of the 2024 season was emotional for all as the end of an era had come.
While there have been many shocking driver moves in F1 history, such as Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull to Ferrari or Fernando Alonso from Renault to McLaren, Hamilton’s switch in 2025 may be the biggest signing in history. The only question is will it work out? There has been heartbreak and triumph in the Ferrari camp over the years. Can they finally produce a championship winning car since 2008? How will the dynamic work between Ferrari’s favorite son Leclerc and the incoming champion? Only time will tell.
