As F1 teams prepare for the upcoming 2025 Formula 1 season by filling their social accounts with content of new driver pairings, one of them has taken a clear lead. Ferrari unveiled the brand-new suits in darker shade of red with a touch of white. The photoshoot introduced us to Charles Leclerc’s new helmet after Lewis Hamilton presented his yellow one last week during his first official visit in Maranello and the subsequent TPC (= testing previous cars) in Fiorano – under the watchful eyes of Tifosi, by the track.
The whole world of motorsport has been waiting for the first steps of the seven-time world champion in the iconic red and Ferrari chose a bold strategy on social media to tease up to that exact moment. They have the two of the most followed drivers on the grid in the same team now, yet they chose to hint rather than show, with subtle Easter eggs in each post creating further excitement as a response. A shared dressing room label, a cake for Lewis’ birthday, a table for two in Ristorante Cavallino outside of Maranello – all in the same shade of dark red with hints of yellow. They followed it up by two passes for the drivers and two dog bowls by the Fiorano circuit where testing took place later. The symbolic start of the era came with the last of the teasing posts on Sunday before testing, with a video of a vintage Ferrari clock changing from 16:43 to 16:44, a nod to the driver numbers.
What happened afterwards can only be described as massive success for the whole team. After Ferrari’s stocks skyrocketed last year after the driver change announcement, bringing the estimated € 7 billion to their pockets overnight, the first official post of Lewis Hamilton as a Ferrari driver in front of Enzo Ferrari’s house in a double-breasted black tuxedo became the most liked F1 post in history, surpassing his teammate’s selfie on the top step of the podium in Monza. Clever minds noticed there are exactly seven windows behind Lewis in the picture, which could symbolize the seven world championship titles he achieved so far in his career, with the door possibly leading to the eighth one.
Not everything in F1 is about money though and it would be a fairytale ending if the most successful team in history getting paired with the most successful driver in history could lead to achieving a long-awaited championship. Or both championships, which is a target you should aim for with Charles and Lewis at the wheel.
There have been a lot of doubters of the move who could now be proven wrong. Toto Wolff speculated at the start of the last season on Fox News Australia, that “He can’t imagine [Lewis] in red,” adding, “I don’t think it suits him.” Now we know that at least over 4.3 million people on Instagram seem to think otherwise, liking the first official picture of Lewis in the red fireproofs for 2025 season.
Another loud disagreement came just a few days ago from Top Gear’s British presenter and motorsport journalist Jeremy Clarkson, who theorized in his column in the Sun that “Maybe Lewis is aware of [being possibly slower driver to his teammate and not getting his eighth championship even if Ferrari produce the fastest car]. And maybe he signed for Ferrari for a different reason – he knows he’s past his prime now and he didn’t want to retire having never driven for motorsport’s crown jewel.” For sure, his fanbase and the encouraging posts coming from Ferrari’s socials suggest that Lewis will undoubtedly play much bigger role than just a point taken off motorsport’s bucket list.
During first testing, Lewis covered 89 km in the morning session with Charles running additional 42 km in the SF-23 in the afternoon, although his stint was influenced by the rain, cutting it shorter than planned. Today they start a private three-day test event in Spain at the Barcelona circuit. Lewis has only ever driven with Mercedes engines during his long and successful F1 career, so Ferrari poses a new challenge for him with different technical specifications. According to Italian media, he already asked for modifications to suit his driving style better after using Charles’ pedals set-up and steering wheel.
With both drivers collecting the data in Spain, they can draw comparisons between the drivers and find key areas to focus on before they embark the official F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain starting on 26th February. Fans could see the 2025 challenger even sooner with the inaugural season launch event F1 75 Live at The O2 in London planned on 18th February, and Ferrari’s own launch the following day. There are not many details about what the team event could include, but looking at the past years, there is a possibility we could see the Ferrari drivers getting the first laps in the new car already. If they can translate the social media dominance to on-track performance, 2025 could truly be Ferrari’s year.