Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has declared Lewis Hamilton ‘ready’ for his debut in Melbourne next weekend. The Brit has undergone an extensive testing programme and clocked hundreds of laps during pre-season in Bahrain last week. Hamilton’s first race with the Scuderia will be the headline-stealer in Melbourne.

The seven-time world champion endured the most difficult season of his career with Mercedes in 2024, finishing seventh in the Drivers’ Championship standings despite recording two Grand Prix victories. At Ferrari, however, he has received a fresh start and tackled pre-season with enthusiasm not seen from Hamilton in many years. The 40-year-old has a golden chance to fight for his record-breaking eighth World Championship, although with McLaren, Max Verstappen and team-mate Charles Leclerc standing in his way, he will have to do it the hard way.

“It was nice to start on the track after the first two months of enormous enthusiasm,” Ferrari boss Vasseur told Italian news outlet Corriere Della Sera. “Even though he is a seven-time world champion, he is living a completely new experience.

“It’s not easy to change teams. He’s known new procedures, he had to get used to a different steering wheel and different software. They were intense days, it went well in Bahrain, and now he’s ready for Melbourne.”

While rivals Red Bull and Mercedes will have clear lead drivers in 2025 with Verstappen and George Russell, respectively, the presence of two ultra-competitive forces in the Ferrari camp could cause Vasseur some headaches this season. However, the Frenchman believes that Hamilton’s presence in Maranello will galvanise Leclerc rather than put him under pressure.

“From the first day I started talking to Lewis, I was convinced that it would be good for Charles as well by taking some of the pressure off him,” Vasseur continued. “And then, after four years alongside Carlos, the best way to learn was to have a new teammate. Also, to see new ways of working.”