- Title: Formula One preview - Can Hamilton win eighth world title in a Ferrari?
- Date: 10th March 2025
- Summary: MARANELLO, ITALY (MARCH 4, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FERRARI DRIVER, CHARLES LECLERC, SAYING: "We (Ferrari) finished second in the Constructors' Championship last year and so the realistic target can only be to win the world championship. It is going to be very tough and it's going to be a huge challenge. I mean, I've, I've never done that in my career before,
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: F1 Ferrari Formula One George Russell Lando Norris Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen McLaren Mercedes Red Bull Racing Season preview
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: Various
- Topics: Motor Racing,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA00I236018022025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Lewis Hamilton winning a record eighth Formula One title in the red overalls of Ferrari at the age of 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 glamour team, after winning his 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-time race winner driving for the first time at Ferrari's Fiorano test track.
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 tough as any Hamilton has faced.
Teammate Charles Leclerc, a Ferrari protege and eight-times 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 are the reigning constructors' champions and Hamilton's compatriot Lando Norris, runner-up to Verstappen last season with four wins, is installed as the bookmakers' favourite.
Australian Oscar Piastri, Norris's teammate, is another contender in what could be one of the closest seasons ever as well as 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 and bidding to join Ferrari great and seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher as only the second driver to win five titles in a row.
"If the car's up to it, he'll get the job done," former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone told Reuters.
Verstappen, who has led the championship for more than 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.
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.
(Production: Alex Fraser, Ben Makori, Iain Axon, Henry Rounce, Simon Ormiston) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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