MODENA, Italy: Lewis Hamilton greeted a crowd of waiting fans on Wednesday as he drove a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time since joining the Italian team for the 2025 season.
Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track, and wore a new helmet design in yellow with a prominent Prancing Horse logo.
The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators, who had gathered on a nearby bridge despite the cold and wet weather.
Part-way through the day, Hamilton headed over to fans who had waited for hours in the wet conditions since early morning for a glimpse of him behind the wheel. Wearing a jacket in Ferrari red, he waved, gave a thumbs-up gesture and put a hand to his heart.
There was excitement Wednesday from one of Italy’s biggest sports stars, too.
After reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner was asked by an Italian reporter if he had seen anything on social media about Hamilton’s Ferrari debut.
“It’s still pretty strange to see him in red,” Sinner said, “but it’ll be a great season.”
Hamilton has shaken up F1 with his move to Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes, where he won six of his seven world titles. He has said he’s fulfilling a childhood dream.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have achieved things in my career I never thought possible, but part of me has always held on to that dream of racing in red. I couldn’t be happier to realize that dream today,” he said Monday after arriving at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters for his first day at work with the new team.
F1 tightly restricts teams from testing current-specification cars but the rules are more loose for older cars like the SF-23 that Hamilton drove Wednesday. The F1 regulations for 2025 allow Hamilton to drive up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) over four days in older F1 cars under the “testing of previous cars” rule. The SF-23 is the most recent Ferrari that’s eligible.
Pre-season testing for the new season’s cars is from Feb. 26 through 28 in Bahrain.
Lewis Hamilton waves to fans as he drives a Ferrari F1 car for the first time
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Lewis Hamilton waves to fans as he drives a Ferrari F1 car for the first time
- Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track
- The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators
Lackluster Liverpool FC snatch late win at Forest
- The Reds stay in 6th place but are tied on points with Chelsea and Man Utd
LIVERPOOL: After having an 89th-minute goal disallowed following a VAR check, the Argentina midfielder scored again in the seventh minute of stoppage time — and this time it survived a video review — to earn Liverpool a 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday.
The dramatic end at the City Ground centered completely on Mac Allister, who thought he’d scored without knowing anything about it after turning his back on a clearance by Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina.
The ball rebounded off Mac Allister and into the net, but the VAR spotted it had struck his arm and the goal was scrubbed out.
However, he was on hand off virtually the last kick of the game when Virgil van Dijk’s header was spilled by Forest goalkeeper Stefan Ortega. Barely six meters out, Mac Allister could hardly miss as he sidefooted the ball into the net.
There was a VAR check to see if Van Dijk was offside but the goal was given.
Liverpool stayed in sixth place but was tied on points with fourth-place Chelsea and fifth-place Manchester United, whose game in hand is at Everton on Monday.
Meanwhile, Sunderland lost its home comforts on Sunday. It wasn’t long ago that Sunderland were the only Premier League team with an unbeaten home record. Now, the Black Cats have lost two straight at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland was defeated 3-1 by Fulham, which had two goals from Mexico striker Raul Jimenez — one of which was from the penalty spot.
Ten days ago, Sunderland lost 1-0 to Liverpool for its first home defeat of the season.
Also on Sunday, Palace won as doubts swirl around Oliver Glasner’s future.
Glasner’s team dug out a 1-0 win over last-place Wolverhampton thanks to a last-minute goal.
Evann Guessand prodded home a far-post finish after coming on as a substitute.
Ahead of the game, Glasner, who led Palace to FA Cup glory last season, was non-committal about whether he would be staying at the club until the end of the season. He has already said he’ll be leaving in the summer.
Wolves stayed 17 points off safety.
