Ferrari crew principal Fred Vasseur says Lewis Hamilton might want to lean on his expertise as he’s confronted with a difficult stint to be absolutely ready for his debut with the crew in 2025.
Hamilton will be part of Ferrari subsequent season after bringing his time with Mercedes to an finish, marking solely the second crew transfer of his System 1 profession and the primary time he’ll race outdoors of a Mercedes-powered crew. With pre-season testing starting on Feb. 26 and Ferrari launching its 2025 automotive every week earlier, Vasseur says there’s solely a small window for Hamilton develop into embedded inside the Scuderia.
“It’s all the time a problem, ranging from the start of January till the launch of the season on the 18th of February in London, and we are going to do the [2024 car] launch the nineteenth in Maranello,” Vasseur mentioned. “It means it’s vital that you’ve solely six weeks — it’s not simple. However he’s additionally coming together with his personal expertise — he’s not Rookie of the Yr — so I’m not nervous in any respect about this.
“It’s additionally the continuity of the earlier rules and meaning we’ve got some reference. I’m not nervous, however it’s true that it’s a problem. Should you think about that you can go to Bahrain and have a sandstorm, as we had a few years in the past, it’s powerful, however it’s powerful for everyone on the grid. We all know that we’ve got solely three days there.”
Ferrari plans on working Hamilton throughout some testing of earlier automotive (TPC) days, however a agency date for a primary outing has not been set as a result of uncertainty over the climate in January. Vasseur says there can be no particular public welcoming occasion for the seven-time world champion, such is the necessity to spend time making ready for the opening rounds.
“We’ve got to be centered on the season,” he mentioned. “As we mentioned earlier than, will probably be a really tight interval between the primary day and launch — it’s a matter of weeks and I need to have everyone concentrate on efficiency.
“It means that we are going to have the launch of the championship, we could have the launch of the automotive. For me, it’s already two occasions, and it’s far an excessive amount of! I need to be centered on improvement, efficiency and to not do the present.”
