For F1, an Off-Season of Change

Lewis Hamilton said there was “magic” inside Ferrari that can help him make Formula 1 history.

Hamilton’s move to the team, a story that began in February last year when he announced he would be leaving Mercedes at the end of 2024, has dominated the buildup to the new season. Australia will host the first race, on March 16, for the first time since 2019.

“I’ve worked with two world championship-winning teams, and I know what a winning team looks and feels like,” Hamilton said. He won the first of his seven titles with McLaren in 2008, and the other six with Mercedes. No driver has won eight.

“Everyone here at Ferrari has the passion like nothing you’ve ever seen. They’ve absolutely got every ingredient they need to win a world championship. It’s about putting it all together.”

Ferrari has not had a drivers’ champion since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007. Its last constructors’ title was 17 years ago. The team missed out last year when it was beaten by McLaren by 14 points.

Zak Brown, the chief executive of McLaren Racing, said he “definitely anticipated” that Hamilton would be “a championship contender.”

Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, agreed.

“If he gets off to a good start, gets the team behind him, finds his confidence and he rides off that energy, then I can see him becoming a real contender,” Horner said.

“But so much will depend on how he gels with the team in the early part of the season. We all know what Lewis is capable of, and if he’s re-energized in a different environment, absolutely he could be a real factor.”

Hamilton holds the record for drivers’ titles with Michael Schumacher, who won five of his seven with Ferrari. On an eighth, Hamilton said: “To me, it would be the first. Winning the championship for Ferrari is the first. That’s what I’m working towards. I don’t think about eight.

“I’m thinking about the first championship the team’s not won for some time, although they’ve already had many over their history. For me, it’s looking for that first one with the team, and right now it’s about how can I contribute to that, how can I help them achieve that.”

The season could be one of the most competitive. New aerodynamic rules were introduced in 2022 devised to make for closer racing, only for Red Bull and Max Verstappen to dominate that year and in 2023.

Although Verstappen won the drivers’ title again last year for his fourth in succession, he did not have it all his own way, and Red Bull was deposed as constructors’ champion. Seven drivers from four teams won Grands Prix, the most since 2012.

With greater convergence anticipated this season in the final year of the regulations before a major change next year, Verstappen is expecting close racing.

“That’s why the rules were set like that,” he said. “I hope it’s exciting and we get a lot of different winners, teams as well. That would be great for the sport.”

Hamilton said it was “going to be close at the top.” It is another English driver, Lando Norris of McLaren, who is one of the favorites.

Last year Norris and his teammate, Oscar Piastri, helped McLaren win its first constructors’ title since 1998. Norris won four Grands Prix and finished second in the drivers’ standings behind Verstappen.

“A fresh challenge for everyone inside the team this year is to deal with that success,” Norris said. “Are they just happy, think they’ve done it and get complacent, or do they want more? Hopefully it’s the second one a lot more than the first.

“The mentality is we want to start well from the off. That’s a big thing for us because we haven’t done that. We’ve not started as a favorite. So the mentality is to continue from last year, which is the correct mentality, the mentality we need, and we’re on the right track.”

Norris finished 63 points behind Verstappen, who won four of the first five Grands Prix. After changes to the McLaren car, Norris won the Miami Grand Prix and then three more Grands Prix, moving him into contention.

“I feel we’re still underdogs in some ways, compared to the fight between Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, but we’ve proven we have what it takes, and the team has done a great job to continue pushing, to improve on what we had,” Norris said.

“We don’t expect it to be any easier this season, only harder, but the team is trying to make it as easy as possible for me and Oscar when we get on track.”

Norris can expect to be pushed by Piastri, who won two races last year. Late last season, to assist Norris’ challenge to Verstappen, McLaren made him its No. 1 driver, favoring him tactically when possible.

This year there is a clean slate and Piastri wants to take advantage.

“I want to win the world championship this year,” Piastri said. “Hopefully, we have a car that’s capable of doing that from the start. Of course, everyone is going to have that mentality. You have to.

“But we are going to be able to race each other. We’ve shown time and time again we can race each other hard but cleanly, and as long as we’re not taking points off the team, then that’s how we’re going to go racing.”

To become champion, Norris and Piastri will have to prevail in wheel-to-wheel combat with Verstappen. It is an area in which Norris said that he did not fare well on occasions last year and that he had to improve.

“I can happily admit there were some things where I just didn’t do a good enough job,” Norris said. “I wasn’t quite at the level I had to be to race against Max, but then we’re talking about going up against one of the hardest attacking defensive guys.”

Verstappen has an easier life at Red Bull. He is its No. 1 driver, with a new teammate, Liam Lawson of New Zealand.

After competing in 11 Grands Prix over the past two seasons for Red Bull’s sister team, AlphaTauri, later renamed to RB, Lawson has replaced Sergio Pérez.

“Liam’s job is quite clear,” Horner said. “He’s there to try and provide as much support as he possibly can. There is not an expectation for him to go out and beat a four-time world champion,” referring to Verstappen. “If he does, fantastic.”

“Being Max’s teammate is probably the toughest seat in Formula 1. We’ll do our best to protect and develop him. He only has 11 Grands Prix under his belt, so it’s a big ask, but he’s got the capability, talent and mental strength to deal with it.”

Although it is Lawson’s debut full-time season in Formula 1, he said he did not consider himself a rookie. There are five on the grid, Oliver Bearman of Haas, Gabriel Bortoleto of Stake, Jack Doohan of Alpine, Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls and Andrea Antonelli of Mercedes.

The biggest spotlight is on Antonelli, who is also known as Kimi and is Hamilton’s replacement — a word Antonelli does not like. “I don’t find it right,” he said. “He has done so much in the sport. I just feel like I’m the next Mercedes driver.”

Bearman, a junior driver with Ferrari, made his debut in Saudi Arabia last year when he drove for Carlos Sainz, who needed an appendectomy. Bearman also drove in two Grands Prix for Haas, replacing Kevin Magnussen.

If Bearman performs over the next two years with Haas, he could replace Hamilton. It is not something that he is thinking about.

“My main goals for the season are to learn as much as I can, build up from race to race, have a lot of discipline and work hard,” Bearman said.

“The most important thing, that is easily overlooked, is you only get one rookie season, and I really want to enjoy it. I’m living my dream, and I’m very lucky to be here.”

Hamilton also wants to enjoy his debut season with Ferrari. Before a wheel has turned, he knows he is in the right place to win an eighth title.

“The energy I’m receiving from the team, there’s magic here,” he said. “It’s still going to take a lot of hard work.

“But it’s also about belief, and every single person here dreams of winning a title with Ferrari.”