United News of Bangladesh

Lewis Hamilton greeted a crowd of eager fans on Wednesday as he drove a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time since joining the Italian team for the 2025 season, reports AP. Hamilton took the wheel of a 2023-spec Ferrari SF-23, adorned with his racing number 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track. He sported a new yellow helmet design featuring the iconic Prancing Horse logo. Lewis Hamilton bids emotional farewell to Mercedes, joins Ferrari The 40-year-old British driver began his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time, amidst light fog, and waved twice to around 1,000 fans who had gathered on a nearby bridge despite the chilly, damp conditions. Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari has made waves in F1 following his 12-year stint at Mercedes, where he won six of his seven world titles. He has described the move as fulfilling a childhood dream. “I’ve been fortunate enough to achieve things in my career I never imagined, but I’ve always held on to that dream of racing in red. I couldn’t be happier to make that dream a reality today,” he said on Monday upon arriving at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters for his first day with the team. Kimi Antonelli named as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Formula 1's Mercedes While F1 restricts teams from testing current-spec cars, the rules are more lenient for older models, like the SF-23 Hamilton drove on Wednesday. Pre-season testing for the new season’s cars is scheduled for February 26-28.