Lewis Hamilton’s official debut in a Ferrari vehicle is fast approaching, and Scuderia reveals how the team hopes to prepare the seven-time world champion as quickly as possible. The Italian racing stable is primarily using the regulations around the Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) to give Hamilton a flying start.
Hamilton has been racing in Formula 1 since 2007, but during his time in the premier class, he has only driven for McLaren and Mercedes. Therefore, it will be a bit of an adjustment for the seven-time world champion to drive a Ferrari car, and the team hopes to expedite his adaptation with an extensive testing schedule.
Ferrari is utilizing the regulations around the Testing of Previous Cars (TPC), which state that drivers can use a team’s older vehicles for testing. Hamilton will thus be allowed to drive a thousand kilometers on the Fiorano circuit at the end of February. Ferrari will only put their newest driver in the old vehicles, leaving the more experienced Charles Leclerc on the sidelines.
Familiar Faces
The Scuderia team is primarily focused on getting Lewis Hamilton, the Brit, accustomed to their way of working as quickly as possible through extensive testing. However, the former Mercedes driver will not only encounter new faces within the team, as Hamilton is also reuniting with team boss Frédéric Vasseur and former Mercedes engineer Loïc Serra.
Hamilton’s new race engineer is a bit of an adjustment for the driver, after his years of collaboration with Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington at Mercedes. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Riccardo Adami, who previously worked with Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel, will be Hamilton’s new race engineer.
