Sebastian Vettel influence on Lewis Hamilton Ferrari debut uncovered

Lewis Hamilton has brought back his yellow helmet design for his first season with Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton repeatedly called four-time F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel for advice ahead of his test debut with Ferrari, it has emerged.
Almost a year after his shock move from Mercedes was announced, Hamilton made his first public appearances as a Ferrari driver this week as his preparations for the F1 2025 season stepped up.
Lewis Hamilton called Sebastian Vettel to ‘compare notes’ ahead of Ferrari debut
After meeting his new team for the first time at the Scuderia’s Maranello factory on Monday, the 40-year-old took to the track behind the wheel of a Ferrari F1 car for the first time on Wednesday.
Hamilton completed a total of 30 laps at the team’s Fiorano test track with the SF-23, the car driven in competition by new team-mate Charles Leclerc and predecessor Carlos Sainz in 2023.
Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari comes exactly a decade after Vettel made the same move from Red Bull ahead of the 2015 season.
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After storming to four consecutive titles with Red Bull between 2010-13, Vettel claimed 14 race victories with Ferrari in a five-year spell between 2015 and 2020.
However, he fell short of adding a fifth title to his collection, losing out to Hamilton, then of Mercedes, in the closely fought 2017 and 2018 campaigns.
Hamilton and Vettel, who retired from F1 at the end of 2022 after a brief stint with Aston Martin, have grown close over recent years.
And it has emerged that the new Ferrari driver sought Vettel’s advice ahead of his arrival at Maranello, with Hamilton approaching his former rival over the winter.
A report by respected Italian publication Corriere della Sera has claimed that Hamilton had called Vettel over the phone over recent weeks to help him prepare for his new life at Ferrari and ‘compare notes’ with his fellow World Champion.
Ferrari finally confirmed on Wednesday that Riccardo Adami, who previously worked with Vettel and Sainz at Ferrari, will act as Hamilton’s new race engineer for the F1 2025 season.
Reports last spring claimed that Hamilton had approached Vettel to gain an initial impression of Adami, with the German providing a glowing endorsement of his former race engineer.
PlanetF1.com revealed last year that Peter Bonnington, Hamilton’s long-serving race engineer at Mercedes, would not be following the driver to Ferrari having been promoted to head of race engineering at the Brackley-based team.
Bonnington is still expected to serve as a race engineer to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the teenage sensation who was confirmed as Hamilton’s successor at last year’s Italian Grand Prix.
It is understood that Hamilton’s deal at Mercedes included a so-called ‘no-poaching’ clause, preventing him from having any direct involvement in persuading Mercedes staff to join him at Ferrari.
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Hamilton issued a short statement after his first test for Ferrari concluded on Wednesday, revealing he had “the biggest smile on my face” as he took to the track for the first time at Fiorano.
He said: “I’ve been lucky enough to have many firsts in my career, from the first test to the first race, podium, win and championship, so I wasn’t sure how many more firsts I had but driving a Scuderia Ferrari HP car for the first time this morning, was one of the best feelings of my life.
“When I started the car up and drove through that garage door, I had the biggest smile on my face. It reminded me of the very first time I tested a Formula 1 car, it was such an exciting and special moment, and here I am, almost twenty years later, feeling those emotions all over again.
“I already knew from the outside how passionate the Ferrari family is, from everyone in the team to the Tifosi! But to now witness it firsthand as a Ferrari driver has been awe-inspiring.
“That passion runs through their veins and you can’t help but be energised by it.
“I’m so grateful for the love I have felt from everyone in Maranello this week, we have a lot of work to do but I can’t wait to get started.”
Speaking after Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was announced last year, Vettel admitted that he initially thought rumours of the British driver’s Mercedes exit were false.
He added that he was “very happy” for his former rival, insisting that Hamilton would have no trouble adapting to a new team after 11 years at Mercedes.
Vettel told Sky Germany in 2024: “He has been around for a very long time, has a lot of experience and has had more success in his career than any other Formula 1 driver.
“He will cope with it, but the transition to a new team is always difficult, especially at the beginning.
“Many familiar faces that you have known for many years are gone, and you have to get used to the new environment, but he will be able to cope with it.
“I was very sceptical [of the news] at first and thought it wasn’t true, but then there was something to it and I am very happy for Lewis.”
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