Lewis Hamilton asked about note-taking as he details vital Ferrari preparation

Lewis Hamilton has provided details about his “incredibly crucial” preparations for his debut F1 season with Ferrari.

The seven-time world champion has been spending recent weeks adapting to his new team, a period in which he has embedded himself at Maranello and driven Ferrari’s 2023 and 2024 cars.

Hamilton got to try out Ferrari’s 2025 challenger, the SF-25, for the first time during a brief shakedown at Fiorano on Wednesday, before speaking to media at length for the first time since his blockbuster switch.

Asked about the importance of his work to get up to speed with Ferrari, including jotting down information in a notebook, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz: “It is incredibly crucial. You're trying to pick up as much as you can as fast as possible.

“I'm very, very fortunate I had the experience of going from one team to another when I went to Mercedes and obviously a much different point in my life, but I did the best I could with what I knew then.

"Fortunately, now I have even more experience and I'm able to, I feel, to speed that process up even more. But it is a very, very steep learning curve. It's a huge organisation.

“They do things completely different to what I've done in the last 10 years, 12 years, for example. I don't know how much you can shortcut it. You still want to just build the wall piece by piece and that's what we're doing.”

And Hamilton expressed confidence that he doesn’t think it will take him too long to get comfortable with his new car.

“But I feel like we have started and built a good foundation of trust between each other, the work and practices we have,” he added.

“It doesn't feel like it's going to be six months to learn how the team operates. I feel like we're further along than I have experienced in the past.”

Being at Ferrari feels ‘natural’ for Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton has endured a difficult few years at Mercedes, winning just two races across three seasons in a period that has seen him unable to contend for world championships.

The 40-year-old Briton’s struggles over one lap in particular have led some to question whether his peak may be behind him, but the early signs point to Hamilton being reinvigorated and having his belief back.

“The energy that I’m receiving from the team, there’s magic here,” Hamilton told media including Crash.net. “It’s going to still take a lot of hard work and grafting from absolutely everyone and everyone is putting that in already to achieve it.

“But it’s also about belief. Everyone here dreams of winning with Ferrari, every single person in this team. I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. It feels natural, it feels right.”

And Hamilton, who is seeking a record-breaking eighth world title with Ferrari, boldly stated that the team have everything they need to win a first world championship since 2008.

“They’ve got absolutely every ingredient they need to win a world championship,” he added. “It’s just about putting all the pieces together.”