For all his stardust, Lewis Hamilton is not always the easiest interviewee.
When he’s on-form, Formula One’s biggest star is thoughtful and genuine, with the ears of everyone in the room fixed on his words. At times, however, particularly in the last three topsy-turvy years at Mercedes, he can be reticent to speak at all.
Not now, though. Hamilton has the essence of a man completely reborn donning the famous Ferrari red and, ahead of his debut race this weekend at the Australian Grand Prix, the 40-year-old was unwavering in his exhilaration at what is to come in his 19th F1 season.
It was a simple statement: “This is the most exciting period of my life.”
And why shouldn’t it be? Hamilton has the entire sporting world eagerly anticipating his debut in Melbourne this Sunday. The fanfare has been spectacular thus far, from Maranello to London and now down under. And on Thursday, he was in top form with the microphone in his hand.
“I’m very fortunate, I’ve had a long career in Formula 1,” he began. “This is very reminiscent of my first year [2007], for all those years I’ve gone up and down the paddock and seen the red garage… now I’m in red.”
As for pressure… what pressure?
“The pressure I’ve put on myself has been ten times higher than any pressure put on me,” he said. “I know what I can deliver and it’s just getting my head down… while respect is given, trust is built up.
“The goal is to win and take the team forwards, seeing if I can have a better year than the last three.”
While not in the best moment organisationally, whoever at the FIA picked this press conference trio deserves a medal. You had Hamilton in the middle of Carlos Sainz (the man he replaced at Ferrari, now at Williams) and Kimi Antonelli (the 18-year-old hotshot tipped by many to be Mercedes’s version of Max Verstappen).
Between Sainz and Hamilton, there is no bad blood. The Spaniard, who won in Melbourne last year just two weeks after an appendectomy, could not resist a sly dig when the Brit tried to remember his performance at Albert Park in 2024.
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“You didn’t win,” said Sainz. Hamilton actually retired due to an engine issue.
As for Antonelli, he had the look of a teenager who cannot believe his dream is coming true. Indeed, he said he’d been “waiting his whole life” for this weekend.
And without a question being uttered about his replacement, Hamilton said of the Italian hotshot: “I’m smiling at the youngest here, so happy for him, he’s conducted himself so well. Taking that first leap is so special. I know how many years of dedication it would have taken. You’re 18? Jeez.
“When I was 22 [making my debut], I wasn’t mature. My step-mum booked my flights, it’s been a long journey. As opposed to now, where I’m very comfortable in my skin.
“What a rollercoaster of a ride it’s been up until now. I was thinking, there are eight billion people in the world and only 20 drivers in Formula 1. I’m one of those drivers and it’s absolutely phenomenal.”
Yep, cloud nine.
Engaging and honest, Hamilton acknowledges that there will be an inevitable “transition period” at Ferrari at the start of the new season. After 18 years of driving Mercedes-powered cars, only grand prix sessions will help acclimatise him to a new Ferrari engine.
McLaren are the team to beat, while four-time champion Max Verstappen is the driver to beat, and the competition at the front should be watertight in this final year of stable regulations.
Yet if – and until a race is run, it’s still an if – Ferrari can provide their star signing with a car capable of winning races, and perhaps even contending for that record-breaking eighth championship, Hamilton will not need any more motivation, as he debuts for the sport’s most famous marque.
Asked lastly about his reaction to the incredible scenes of adulation he has received in the last two months, Hamilton gave an insight into his unique mindset.
“I don’t really read news,” he said, without hesitation to a hundred-plus group of journalists and broadcasters crammed into the press conference room.
“I go through long periods of time without social media. I’m living in my own little bubble in my head. I’ve been back to square one, I’ve been in the factory four days a week and have given everything to training.
“I’m under no assumptions it will be easy, it is not. But I know what it takes to do a good job, for myself, for my family, and for this team which deserves success.”
By Sunday evening, in front of a weekend crowd which is expected to be close to 500,000 at the Albert Park street circuit, we will have a clearer indication of what success may look like for Hamilton in 2025.
