"I feel we're as best prepared as we could be”: Lewis Hamilton makes his feelings known ahead of his first Ferrari race in Australia

Lewis Hamilton is set to leave for Melbourne this week to prepare for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, which will also be his debut race with Ferrari. Despite the limited duration of practice, Hamilton feels prepared to make an impactful debut.

The 2025 F1 season is just around the corner, with Melbourne hosting the season--opening race. The calendar will begin with the Australian Grand Prix scheduled on March 16.

With 10 days left for the race, Hamilton is likely to jet off to Melbourne this weekend. The Grand Prix is special for him as he will make his official race debut for his new team, Scuderia Ferrari.

The seven-time world champion's unprecedented career switch has been a closely followed story for a while now, and all eyes will be on his debut on March 16.

Meanwhile, ahead of his debut, Lewis Hamilton opined that the training period with Ferrari was short, but he tried to prepare himself to the best of his ability. Talking to Sky Sports, he said:

"I can't believe the race is already next week. So I already started to make my venture to Australia on Friday. So that's when it really starts to be; it will start to sink in a little bit as the weekend kind of arrives. I feel we're as best prepared as we could be, given the short space of time that I've had.

He added:

"There's still things to learn, but I'm just excited to get going. I love racing, and so all the other stuff is stuff I love less. Racing is what I love. Being in Melbourne, it's going to be very reminiscent of my first Grand Prix there."

Hamilton completed his 1000 km TPC test in Ferrari's older models in January. He then drove the SF-25, the upcoming season car, in a pre-season test held in Bahrain.

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Ferrari boss fires back at claims of Lewis Hamilton's signing being a 'marketing operation'

Lewis Hamilton Tests For Ferrari - Source: Getty

Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari switch took the whole sporting world by surprise as the negotiations happened very quickly. Nobody from the outside world caught wind of it until the rumors surfaced at the last moment.

There were claims that Ferrari's approach towards Hamilton was a marketing gimmick. However, team chairman John Elkann rejected the speculations. Talking to TIME magazine, he said:

“I think it’s really unfair to Lewis, some of the comments saying, ‘This is a marketing operation.’ Truth be told, Lewis doesn’t need that. Ferrari doesn’t need that. What we need to do is win championships and do great things on the track. If that happens, what we can do outside of the track, in some ways, takes care of itself. There are unlimited possibilities.”

It was also reported that Lewis Hamilton was the one to approach Ferrari first during the 2023 season winter break. However, those rumors also remain unconfirmed.