Before a single competitive lap has been turned in Ferrari red, Lewis Hamilton is already making memories at Maranello. The seven-time World Champion was spotted at Ferrari’s private Fiorano test circuit earlier this month, taking the wheel of one of the most unusual and historically significant machines in the Scuderia’s collection: a three-seater Formula 1 car based on the legendary F2002 chassis.
A Rare Machine With a Championship Pedigree
The Ferrari three-seater is no ordinary showpiece. Designed by the brilliant Rory Byrne in 2003, the car was built on the foundation of the F2002, one of the most dominant Formula 1 cars ever constructed. That championship-winning machine swept 15 of 17 races in the 2002 season, delivering Michael Schumacher his fifth World Championship title and cementing Ferrari’s place in the sport’s history books.
Byrne engineered the three-seater specifically to carry two passengers alongside the driver, creating a unique configuration that has been used over the years for VIP experiences and special demonstration events. It is a rare asset in Ferrari’s already extraordinary collection, and the opportunity to pilot it around Fiorano is reserved for very few people. Hamilton, it seems, is already one of them.
Footage and images of the session showed Hamilton at the controls with two passengers seated either side of him, navigating Fiorano’s tight and technical layout. The circuit, located just minutes from the Ferrari factory in Maranello, has served as the Scuderia’s spiritual home for testing and development since the 1970s. For Hamilton, it represents new and deeply significant territory.
A New Chapter at the Home of the Prancing Horse
Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari is one of the most talked-about moves in modern motorsport history. After two decades at McLaren and then Mercedes, where he claimed six of his seven World Championship titles, the 40-year-old made the seismic decision to join the Scuderia for the 2025 season. The move sent shockwaves through the paddock when it was announced in early 2024 and has since dominated conversation heading into the new campaign.
Settling into a new team is never straightforward at any level of motorsport, but for a driver of Hamilton’s stature joining a team with Ferrari’s expectations and history, the process carries particular weight. Every early appearance at Fiorano, every interaction with the engineers, every lap in Ferrari machinery is part of building the foundation for what the team hopes will be a title-challenging partnership.
Driving the three-seater around Fiorano may be more ceremonial than technical, but it carries real symbolic value. Hamilton is learning the roads, the rhythms, and the culture of his new home. There is something fitting about the fact that his early miles at Fiorano came behind the wheel of a car rooted in one of the sport’s great dynasties, even if the machine in question seats three.
History Meets the Present on the Fiorano Tarmac
The connection between the F2002 and the current moment is more than just mechanical. When Schumacher dominated in that car more than two decades ago, Ferrari was at the height of its powers, winning Constructors and Drivers titles in consecutive years. The Scuderia has not claimed a Drivers Championship since Kimi Raikkonen’s title in 2008, a drought that weighs heavily on the team’s ambitions and identity.
Hamilton arrives not just as a new driver, but as the most decorated active competitor in the sport. His seven titles match Schumacher’s all-time record, and his hunger for an eighth has been one of the driving forces behind the Ferrari move. Whether the partnership can deliver remains the sport’s most compelling open question heading into 2025.
Moments like the Fiorano three-seater run are a reminder that Formula 1 is also a sport of theatre, tradition, and storytelling. Ferrari understands this better than any team on the grid. Welcoming their new standard-bearer with a drive in one of their most cherished machines is the kind of gesture that speaks to how seriously the Scuderia is approaching this new era.
With pre-season testing on the horizon and the 2025 Formula 1 season approaching fast, Hamilton’s time at Fiorano will soon shift from symbolic laps to serious preparation. The three-seater run is a footnote in the bigger story, but it is a telling one. Hamilton is embedding himself in Ferrari’s world, absorbing its history, and preparing to add his own chapter to it. Whether that chapter includes a record eighth World Championship is what the entire sport will be watching to find out.