- The seven-time world champion arrives in Maranello with great fanfare and crowds
- Hamilton was joined in his historic career by his father Anthony and mother Carmen.
- The Brit has been eager to start for his boyhood team since the 2024 deal.
Lewis Hamilton has reportedly been gifted a new home in Italy to facilitate his move to Ferrari.
The seven-time world champion arrived at Maranello to great fanfare earlier this week as he finally joined the iconic Italian constructor a year after announcing his spectacular move.
The 40-year-old said goodbye to his 12-year-old team, Mercedes, at the end of last season, and was keen to start working with the Prancing Horse before the start of the 2025 competition.
After landing in Italy on Sunday, Hamilton was treated to a tour of the factory by luminaries including team principal Frederic Vasseur and chief executive Benedetto Vigna, who also visited the Fiorano home occupied by the team's founder. team, Enzo Ferrari, and the garage. on the track.
On Wednesday, Hamilton got behind the wheel of a racing car for the first time, a day after he shared a first image of himself wearing Ferrari's iconic red suit.
Mail Sport exclusively revealed on Tuesday that Hamilton's father Anthony joined his son on his historic first ride in Fiorano, alongside his mother Carmen and stepmother Linda.
Lewis Hamilton has been handed the keys to a new home in Italy in a bid to assimilate the star.
The new Ferrari driver took to the Fiorano test track on Wednesday morning for the first time in an F1 car.
The childhood fan of the iconic Italian builder announced his shock move to Italy last year.
But even more efforts have been made to help Britons feel at home, according to the bbcand the team gave him the keys to a local property to help him assimilate in the Ferrari-mad country.
Hamilton is preparing to return to fitness after a difficult 2024 with his previous constructor, in which he finished seventh in the drivers' standings and consistently outperformed by former teammate George Russell.
Sharing his first thoughts on the £50million move on Instagram, Hamilton wrote: “There are some days you know you'll remember forever and today, my first as a Ferrari driver, is one of those,” he wrote.
“I've been lucky enough to have accomplished things in my career that I never thought possible, but a part of me has always held on to that dream of racing in the red. I couldn't be happier to realize that dream.
“We begin a new era in the history of this iconic team and I can't wait to see what history we will write together.”
Fans turned out in droves to see the Brit take his first laps to give him a proper welcome.
Hamilton has been touring the Ferrari facilities and meeting his new teammates since landing in the country earlier in the week.
His test drive was in the 2023 model year of Ferrari's F1 development, the last model allowed under the TCP (previous car testing) rule that allows a driver 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) of internal practice.
The 40-year-old is expected to intensify his track acclimatization program in Barcelona at the end of the month.
He will also take part in the official F1 test in Bahrain next month, in the new 2025 car, before making his race debut as Charles Leclerc's teammate at the Australian Grand Prix on March 16.