Ferrari ki safari?

British F1 driver Lewis Hamilton participates in a farewell event for the Mercedes F1 Team at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on December 10, 2024. Pic/Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton's shock move to Ferrari sets up what promises to be one of the most tantalising storylines of the 2025 season, as the sport's most successful driver pairs up with the sport's most successful team, each seeking a return to their championship-winning ways. The seven-times world champion, who will be 40 when the season starts on March 16 with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, stunned the paddock when he announced his decision to leave Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025, with the announcement made before the 2024 campaign had even begun.

But now, having brought the curtain down on the longest and most successful driver-team partnership in Formula One history with a series of emotional farewells, Hamilton is ready for the challenge of his career as he sets out to restore his and the Prancing Horse's lost lustre. The Briton, who is replacing Williams-bound Spaniard Carlos Sainz on a two-year deal, is hunting for an unprecedented eighth career title.

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Ferrari, meanwhile, are impatient to win their first title of any sort since their constructors' triumph in 2008, after losing out to McLaren last year by just 14 points. Hamilton may have timed his move with an eye on 2026, gambling on Ferrari stealing a march on rivals at the start of a new rules era featuring sweeping changes.

But, he could in fact find himself in the thick of the title fight as soon as this year. The last season saw seven different drivers from four different teams win at least two races, as Red Bull's dominance waned and the field closed up. McLaren ended the year as constructors' champions and the team to beat. But, Ferrari and even Mercedes, albeit in fits and starts, found themselves in the fight for wins. With the rules staying stable the field is only likely to converge even further.

So long as Ferrari can find form more consistently across the season, Hamilton could have a real shot at becoming the first driver to win the championship in a scarlet car since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.

But he will first have to overcome Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque is a Ferrari protege and the 2025 season will be his seventh racing for the team. The 27-year-old is also one of the fastest drivers in qualifying. Hamilton, once fearsomely fast over a single lap, has, by his own admission, struggled in qualifying of late. The Briton was out-qualified 18-6 by teammate George Russell at Mercedes last year.

But his win in front of his home crowd at Silverstone, his charge through the field to second in Las Vegas and the climb up the order to fourth from 16th on his final outing for Mercedes in Abu Dhabi showed he can still be devastatingly quick in the races. Hamilton, with 105 wins, 104 pole positions, and 202 podiums is already the most successful driver in F1 history, having blown past nearly all of Michael Schumacher's record successes. But, he is still level with the German on seven championship titles.

With a new crop of contenders now on the ascendency in McLaren pairing Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and Ferrari teammate Leclerc and old rival and reigning champion Max Verstappen still a threat, Hamilton will need all his speed to clinch that much sought-after, career defining eighth championship crown.