F1 Fans buzzing as Hamilton makes Ferrari debut in Melbourne

Lewis Hamilton winning a record eighth Formula One title in Ferrari's red overalls at 40 would be a story straight out of Hollywood, whose own Brad Pitt movie is scheduled to race across cinema screens in June.

The Briton, a co-producer on the film directed by Joseph Kosinski of "Top Gun: Maverick" fame, has fired up the fans as he seeks to bring a championship to Maranello for the first time since 2008.

Sunday's season-opener in Melbourne will be Hamilton's first race for the Italian glamor team after he won seven titles with McLaren and Mercedes, and already, the level of excitement is off the scale.

One fan cut down a tree to get a better glimpse of the 105-times race winner driving for the first time at Ferrari's Fiorano test track.

An Instagram post on his first day at the factory, with Hamilton standing in a smart black suit and overcoat next to a Ferrari F40 car, drew 5.7 million likes from 39 million followers.

"Oh my God, he’d be the king of all kings," 1978 world champion Mario Andretti told Time magazine when asked about the chance of the Briton succeeding in what seems to be an improbable quest.

Hamilton was featured on the iconic red-bordered cover, standing shirtless in a white suit before a rearing black stallion.

"The old man is a state of mind," he told the magazine, a line he could have taken from Pitt, 61, who plays a 40-something driver. "Of course, your body ages. But I’m never going to be an old man."

The fairy-tale script is written but could easily be torn up and recast.

British F1 driver Lewis Hamilton signs autographs during the Scuderia Ferrari HP Drivers' presentation event by Unicredit, in Piazza Castello in Milan, on March 6, 2025. Photo by Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP

Tough Task

The task to secure a title he felt robbed of when a controversial change to the safety car procedure late in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix handed Red Bull's Max Verstappen a first title will be as challenging as any Hamilton has faced.

Teammate Charles Leclerc, a Ferrari protege and eight-time race winner who has driven for the team since 2019 and been blisteringly quick over a single lap, will fancy his chances if the car has title potential.

McLaren is the reigning constructors' champion, and Hamilton's compatriot Lando Norris, runner-up to Verstappen last season with four wins, is installed as the bookmakers' favorite.

Australian Oscar Piastri, Norris's teammate, is another contender in what could be one of the closest seasons ever. It is also the last before major rule changes and the start of a new engine era in 2026.

Some are predicting potentially more winners than the seven different drivers and four teams that enjoyed the spoils in 2024, with some teams set to end development early and focus on next year.

Then there is Verstappen, soon to become a father for the first time, bidding to join Ferrari's grand and seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher, as the only second driver to win five titles.

"If the car's up to it, he'll get the job done," former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone told Reuters.

Ferrari's British driver Lewis Hamilton drives on the third day of the Formula One pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on February 28, 2025. Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP

Verstappen, who has led the championship for over 1,000 days since May 2022, has a new teammate in New Zealander Liam Lawson, promoted after 11 races from sister team Racing Bulls to replace under-performing Mexican Sergio Perez.

Lawson is the most experienced of six players starting a season for the first time, with Frenchman Isack Hadjar taking the vacated seat at Racing Bulls.

Briton Oliver Bearman is at Haas, Brazilian F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto is with Sauber, Australian Jack Doohan is at Alpine, and Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli is stepping into Hamilton's enormous shoes at Mercedes.

How the 18-year-old fares alongside George Russell will be another storyline of the season, as will star designer Adrian Newey's impact at Aston Martin since his move from Red Bull.

For the first time since 1989, there is no Finn on the grid, with Valtteri Bottas now Mercedes reserve. However, Bortoleto ensures Brazil has a full-time driver for the first time since Felipe Massa retired in 2017.