Lewis Hamilton will fulfil his childhood dream and race a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix after months of build-up
Lewis Hamilton said he feels like a Formula 1 rookie again and that his first few weeks as a Ferrari driver have been “definitely the most exciting period of my life”.
The seven-time champion has spent the winter adjusting to life with the Italian team and tested his new racing car in Bahrain last month. But Hamilton, 40, will race it for the first time in Melbourne this weekend and admitted it feels like he is making his F1 debut all over again.
He smiled: “I’m very, very fortunate I’ve had this amazing career in F1. Starting with McLaren here in 2007 was an epic feeling, then starting with a new team again in Mercedes was incredibly special.
“I think this is very reminiscent probably of my first year. For all those years I’ve gone up and down the paddock, looking at and seeing the red garage, and now I’m actually in the red garage – it’s a really nice feeling.”
Hamilton’s move to Ferrari is arguably the biggest driver switch in F1 history as the sport’s most successful racer and team join forces. And with the spotlight comes expectation as the Brit chases an historic eighth drivers’ title.
But he insists that he doesn’t feel like he is under the gun at Ferrari, who are desperate to end a barren championship run that stretches back to 2008. He said: “Always through the years, the pressure that I’ve put on myself has always been 10 times higher than any other pressure that can be put upon me.
“I’ve not joined this team and been made to feel any pressure. I have an expectation for myself, I know what I can bring, I know what I can deliver, and I know what it’s going to take to do that. It’s just getting your head down and working away. I come with a very open mind coming into this weekend.
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“It’s about getting into a season and getting into a good rhythm. I’m still learning this new car that’s quite a lot different to what I’ve driven for all my previous career, in the sense of Mercedes power. Coming to Ferrari power is something kind of new, a different vibration, a different feel.
“It’s [also] a different way of working… the whole team works completely differently. You’re looking at things from a different perspective, which makes it exciting and challenging. This is definitely the most exciting period of my life, so I’m really just enjoying it.”
And Hamilton is clear in terms of what he expects to achieve this weekend, the Brit aiming for a top-five finish in Melbourne. He added: “We’ve only had obviously three days in the car so it’s difficult to know where we stand with everyone else, but we’ve just tried to keep our heads down and just focus on our job. It looks like it’s going to be close between us all.”