Watch: Lewis Hamilton and his father share a moment before the 7x world champion drives a Ferrari for the first time

Lewis Hamilton and his father Anthony Hamilton shared a lovely moment ahead of the former's first time inside a Ferrari car on Wednesday, January 22. The British driver completed his first laps with the Italian team to much fanfare to mark an iconic moment in F1 history.

There were a lot of speculations heading into the day as many had rumored that the Scuderia would want to do the first runs away from the spotlight and the weather might influence their decision. However, all reports were put to bed when Hamilton and the team arrived at its private test track in Fiorano to do laps inside the 2023 challenger SF-23 with academy tires in the cold conditions.

In a clip floating on social media, Lewis Hamilton and his father Anthony shared a touching moment before the driver jumped into the car for the first time. The seven-time F1 world champion could be smiling at Anthony, who patted the back of his son in the Ferrari garage.

Lewis Hamilton completed around 30 laps in his first run in the SF-23 before handing over the car to his new teammate Charles Leclerc for the afternoon session. He later went on to greet the Tifosi waiting outside the track on the highway.

Lewis Hamilton gives his take on the "special" first run with Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton said that it was an "exciting" and "special" moment for him after he completed his first run with Ferrari after making his move. While expressing his feelings about the whole experience on the team's official website, the 40-year-old reflected:

"I’ve been lucky enough to have many firsts in my career, from the first test to the first race, podium, win, and championship, so I wasn’t sure how many more firsts I had but driving a Scuderia Ferrari HP car for the first time this morning, was one of the best feelings of my life."

"When I started the car up and drove through that garage door, I had the biggest smile on my face. It reminded me of the very first time I tested a Formula 1 car, it was such an exciting and special moment, and here I am, almost twenty years later, feeling those emotions all over again," he added.

Hamilton also expressed his gratitude to the Tifosi and spoke about the energy he felt in the car from their support, adding:

"I already knew from the outside how passionate the Ferrari family is, from everyone in the team to the Tifosi! But to now witness it firsthand as a Ferrari driver has been awe-inspiring. That passion runs through their veins and you can’t help but be energised by it."

Lewis Hamilton will get a representative run inside the SF-23 when he takes to the track in Barcelona in the coming days. The British driver will not have much track time before he takes the 2025 challenger on the track for one and a half days during the official pre-season testing in Bahrain next month.