Lewis Hamilton makes his feelings crystal clear about the start of his first F1 season with Ferrari

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton claimed that it was a "long but short" first winter for him as he switched teams ahead of the 2025 season. The seven-time F1 world champion made the jump to the Italian team on January 20 after first announcing the move from Mercedes last year in February.

The British driver, who had raced in silver overalls for 12 years and won six of his seven driver's championships from 2014 to 2020, struggled to adapt to the current generation of cars introduced in 2022. Hamilton had won just three races in three years and was largely behind his ex-teammate George Russell over one lap and in the races.

Speaking with Sky Sports during a Puma event in Milan, Lewis Hamilton mentioned that he had a positive pre-season test in Bahrain with Ferrari and was looking forward to racing in Australia in the SF-25, saying:

"It has been a long winter but it's also been very short. But I'm really grateful. We had good testing last week. I can't believe the race is already next week so already start to make my venture to Australia on Friday. It'll start to sink in a little bit as this weekend before arrives.

"I feel excited. I feel we're as best prepared we could be given the short space of time that I've had. There's still things to learn but I'm just excited to get going. I love racing. All the other stuff is stuff I love less. Racing is what I love. Being at Melbourne is going to be very reminiscent of my first grand prix there."

Lewis Hamilton will partner with Charles Leclerc to take Ferrari back to its glory days in the 2025 season and bring the silverware to Maranello.

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Lewis Hamilton expresses his excitement about racing with Ferrari

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton stated that he believed that the feeling of racing for the Italian team in the iconic red car was still a punch-me moment for him. As quoted by the aforementioned source, the 40-year-old reflected on the new chapter of his racing journey, saying:

"I'm now embarking on something brand new for me and something I didn't think would happen when I turned 40. I'm still pinching myself. Next week when I get to the race, I'm going to be starting a grand prix in red - wow!

"I don't have the words to really explain how excited I am, just trying to stay cool and calm, but for sure arriving in red is going to be cool."

Lewis Hamilton signed a two-plus-one deal with the Italian team that would give him three years to win an elusive eighth world championship and take the record away from Michael Schumacher. However, he had recently professed that he had no plans of retiring from the sport even after getting the feat.