Lewis Hamilton will make a highly anticipated move to Ferrari in 2025, bringing an end to his long and successful partnership with Mercedes.

However, despite the excitement surrounding his switch, Hamilton won’t be driving for Ferrari immediately as Mercedes has decided not to release him early for the post-season test,which will take place after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, meaning Hamilton will miss the opportunity to drive a Ferrari car after the final race of the 2024 season.

Instead, Ferrari has planned a private test for Hamilton before the 2025 season begins. The test will likely take place at Ferrari’s Fiorano track, where other drivers, like Sebastian Vettel, have also had their first runs with the team.

Hamilton is set drive the 2022 Ferrari F1-75, a car that secured four race victories that season, while his first public outing in Ferrari’s 2025 car will come during pre-season testing in Bahrain in February.

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has revealed that the team plans to dedicate up to two of its ‘Testing of Previous Cars’ days to Lewis Hamilton to help speed up his adaptation but the team also expects that process to be pretty quick.

“I'm not sure that he [Hamilton] needs tons of hours of acclimatisation,” he told Motorsport.com.

“He is experienced enough to be quick on the first day, or at least very soon. We'll have one or two TPC days, plus the test in Bahrain, and that will be enough.”

These days allow F1 teams to test cars that are at least two years old outside of official race weekends. This means Lewis Hamilton will have the chance to drive the 2022 Ferrari car, which was the first to be designed under the current technical regulations.

In relation to that, Vasseur has also confirmed that part of the team is already preparing for the 2025 season, with plans to challenge for the title with Hamilton on board.

“For sure we have part of the team already focusing on ’25, on the test plan, on the communication and so, with Lewis being part of this.

“But not on the race team and it’s not on my mind.”