Ferrari held a special event for new driver Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to greet fans in Milan ahead of the start of the new season next week.
Fans turned out in huge numbers to greet the pair, who drove two of Ferrari’s recent Formula 1 machines in the city.Leclerc drove a 2019-specification SF90, of the type he won his first grands prix in six years ago, and Hamilton drove a more recent SF21 from four years ago.
Hamilton, who is 10 days away from his first grand prix start as a Ferrari driver, said his first weeks with the team have been: “incredible – since January 20th it’s been flat-out every day.”
“I’m looking forward to this weekend,” he said, “I have the weekend off, so I’m going to sleep.
“Charles and I and the whole team are obviously travelling to Australia. But it’s been a lot to squeeze into a short space of time.
“Even to just drive the car that we just drove, I’d never driven or seen it. So to get it started, to learn the sequences has taken some time.
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“But I love the challenge and I love being in Italy. I love being with this team and I’m so excited for the journey we’re going on together.”
Ferrari also put two cars from its most successful era on display: An F2004, which Michael Schumacher won his last world championship with, and a 248 F1, which was the last Ferrari he raced.
“Wearing red and experiencing an event like this is something special, as is being here with you in front of some historic cars including ones that Michael Schumacher raced,” Hamilton added.
Leclerc, who is starting his seventh season as a Ferrari driver, is pleased with the progress he has seen at the team. “Over the winter we have worked harder than ever to be in the best possible shape and we hope we can get some great results,” he said. “Maybe already in Australia.”
Pictures: Leclerc and Hamilton demonstrate Ferrari F1 cars in Milan
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El Pollo Loco
6th March 2025, 22:53
Pretty awesome. Would have been an amazing sight to witness in person.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th March 2025, 6:41
I watched footage yesterday evening on YouTube & the atmosphere was easy to notice.
These types of events occasionally occur in Milan, so if I ever happened to be in the city during such an event, I’d definitely attend.
An Sionnach
7th March 2025, 12:27
Can we have a Formula F2004? Lewis can race in it when he retires. Vettel might get a seat in that, too? Alonso if he wants.
An Sionnach
7th March 2025, 12:33
To start with, all Formula F2004 drivers must have raced with Ferrari. Massa can race… and still lose.
El Pollo Loco
7th March 2025, 17:23
I’d prefer Formula R25. Best sound. Nice and nimble. Great livery. And much better in dirty air. But I’d settle for F2004 or just the F2004 replacing every F1 car on the grid so we could actually see what we want: what would happen if every driver had the same car. Ridiculous amounts of guaranteed action and some definitive comparisons.
An Sionnach
7th March 2025, 23:51
Either would be an improvement. I never really liked the colour or the nose of those Renaults. I did like the Benetton Mild Seven colours, so it’s the yellow of Renault that ruins it.
Asanator
7th March 2025, 19:20
Didn’t A1GP or something use a modified F2004 chassis as the spec car. I seem to have a vague memory of that happening.
An Sionnach
8th March 2025, 0:16
Yes. I wasn’t even aware of this. They had planned to use the Ferrari car for a number of years, but the series folded after the fourth season, which was the first to use this chassis. It didn’t have the same engine, but it seems that this idea has been tried.
I see team Ireland (or, Adam Carroll) won it in that last season. I’m surprised that this one passed me (and the country) by. If we came sixth in the World Cup of Tiddlywinks, it would be front page news. I lived in New Zealand around then and also missed the Taupo races as I didn’t know of the series existence!
Interesting, thanks!