On Wednesday, Lewis Hamilton will step inside a Ferrari F1 car for the first time when he takes the 2022 model through its paces at the Fiorano circuit where he will be allowed a maximum of 1,000 kilometre.
It’s the same model that finished more than 200 points behind Red Bull in that year’s constructors' championship. It’s the same model that saw Charles Leclerc finish just under 150 points behind Max Verstappen in the final championship standings.
The 2024 version was much better than the 2022 car, with Ferrari missing out on the constructors' title by 14 points. They finished second behind McLaren and beat Red Bull and Mercedes in the process.
Ferrari have steadily improved over the last few years, and they are hoping that Hamilton can finally end their title drought and bring glory to the Scuderia faithful.
Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Hamilton shocked the paddock last February when he announced that after 12 successful years with Mercedes, he was departing for Ferrari.
The 40-year-old Hamilton, who will partner Charles Leclerc as they bid to deliver a first Ferrari world champion since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007. Ferrari also haven’t won a constructors' championship since 2008.
But history tells us that just signing a world champion driver is not enough when it comes to winning championships for Ferrari. There have been plenty of examples of that over the better part of the last decade.
After winning two Formula One World Drivers' Championships in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, Fernando Alonso was expected to deliver for Ferrari. But he left the Italian giants with the same amount of titles he arrived with.
Sebastian Vettel, at age 23, became the youngest person to win the F1 world drivers championship in 2010, before going on to win three more in the next three years. However, after winning his first race in his first start for Ferrari in 2015, Vettel couldn’t keep pace with Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Raikkonen's second coming from 2015 to 2018 also yielded nothing in the form of championships.
Ferrari must develop a competitive car to give Hamilton a fighting chance. Red Bull will be better next season, while McLaren surprised friend and foe with their pace in 2024. Mercedes have also been hard at work trying to improve after going off the boil over the last two years.
At 40, Hamilton still has the skills and the desire to win another title, which will take him to eight championships, one better than Mr Ferrari himself, Michael Schumacher.
"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," Hamilton said this week.
"I'm dedicated to bringing everything I have to deliver for the team, the wider organisation and the fans."
He needs the tools to do the business, to reverse the curse. If Ferrari can’t do it, Hamilton will also be confined to the scrapheap of former F1 champions who couldn’t bring glory to the prancing horse.
@JohnGoliath82