Hamilton Jumps Into His Mercedes For First Time Since Ferrari Move

Saturday, 10 February 2024 at 02:00

Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari has been the topic of many discussions recently, but many forget that he's still a Mercedes driver.

The seven-time World Champion will be driving for Ferrari from 2025, and it would be an understatement to say that his move turned the F1 world upside down.

Since the Italian team and the British driver confirmed it, never-ending talks started about how Hamilton would get along with Charles Leclerc, whether he could help Ferrari succeed, how well he would do with the team, and how he would become accustomed to the change.

Still, there is one thing that many forget, and that's the fact that the 39-year-old has one full season with Mercedes ahead of him, so it's not a surprise to see him in the Silver Arrows car again.

Ahead of the new season, Hamilton was one of the drivers who took part in a two-day session with their cars from the 2023 season, to help Pirelli, Formula One's tire supplier, decrease the risk of overheating for the 2025 season.

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It must have been an interesting test for the Brit, as he was using his 2023 Mercedes car, ahead of the 2024 season, in which he will drive for Mercedes, to help the tire supplier with a task for the 2025 season, which he will spend in Ferrari.

Along with the number 44 driver, his old rival Fernando Alonso, his current teammate George Russell, and Lance Stroll also drove around the Circuito de Jerez in Spain, completing over 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) on the track.

Hamilton completed the least laps of all of the drivers, and he recorded the second slowest time, completing 126 laps with the best lap time of 1:18.936.

Russell was the fastest man during the two-day session, recording a lap time of 1:18.259 during one of his 158 laps, completing also the most laps of all of the drivers.

Alonso and Stroll both completed 156 laps, with the Spanish driver having the best lap time of 1:18.752, while the Canadian was the only one that couldn't get under 1:19, completing his fastest lap at 1:19.130.