JONATHAN MCEVOY: The day Lewis Hamilton grew to become the ‘unmentionable one’

Lewis Hamilton wasn’t there actually, however he was there in spirit, his identify and fame hanging over Ferrari’s automobile launch in Maranello on Tuesday.

So apparent was the notion of the seven-time world champion’s impending arrival for 2025 that the extremely succesful Spaniard Carlos Sainz, whose seat Hamilton will take, didn’t point out his identify as soon as within the media name he did over Zoom.

Sainz, 29, was requested whether or not he had spoken to his substitute since information broke earlier this month of the Briton’s departure from Mercedes to drive in pink, however he tactfully sidestepped the query. Ferrari’s media lady politely insisted that no different reference to the ‘unmentionable one’ – my phrases, not hers – could be countenanced.

We have a yr of this avoidance to go, and it gained’t be straightforward for anybody concerned to cope with. Nor will the switch be straightforward to clean over at Mercedes, with 12 months of awkwardness to return as George Russell quietly, or in any other case, transitions from inheritor to king.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (L), staff precept Frederic Vasseur (C) and Carlos Zainz Jr (R) have been all pictured forward of the revealing of the staff’s new automobile for the upcoming F1 season

Lewis Hamilton, who will be a part of Ferrari forward of the 2025 season and take Sainz’s seat, was not in attendance on the unveiling

The Italian staff are hoping that their new automobile, the SF-24, will assist them win their first constructor’s championship since 2008

For Sainz, he has one yr to fulfil his dream of profitable the title the place he’s, his future past that unsure. He drove the brand new automobile, the scarlet yr’s challenger to the mighty world champions Red Bull, earlier within the day across the manufacturing unit’s adjoining Fiorano check observe, which, previous to his loss of life in 1988 aged 90, was nearby and earshot of founder Enzo Ferrari’s cottage.

Five laps for Sainz; three for Charles Leclerc, who could have been as discombobulated as his team-mate by the information that Hamilton was on his approach in. Aged 26, Leclerc was singled out as Ferrari’s future, a younger expertise from Monaco backed by them for greatness.

He has signed a brand new deal to be with the Scuderia till the tip of 2029, a contract lengthy sufficient, maybe, to assuage his unavoidable nervousness at Hamilton’s arrival, aged 39. Leclerc, a five-time race winner, stays the long-term hope.

All three males carry weight on their shoulders. For Ferrari has a mystique in Italy, and extra extensively within the motor-racing world. If you turn into their world champion – the primary since Kimi Raikkonen pipped Hamilton to the crown in his unforgettable debut blaze in 2007 – it will be akin to being a World Cup-winning England supervisor. That could also be a slight exaggeration, however not a lot of 1.

It was confirmed earlier in February that Hamilton had agreed a deal value over £40million to affix Ferrari from Mercedes

But Sainz, talking to the media, revealed he had been given some ‘time to digest’ the information that Hamilton could be changing him 

As a Ferrari star you might be taken to the hearts of the tifosi, and may Hamilton get off to a superb begin, and energises the staff to work to his wants as all nice champions do, and performs to the sensitivities of the followers with a number of phrases of Italian as he unquestionably will, he may but be their best hero, the person who gained his eighth world title on the most fabled of marques.

Of Hamilton’s arrival, Sainz, the one non-Red Bull winner throughout Max Verstappen’s fast march to title glory final yr, triumphing in Singapore, stated: ‘From my side you can understand I got to know the news a bit earlier than anyone else and I had some weeks to reflect and prepare and some weeks to also get ready for the car launch and the first race of the season (in Bahrain on March 2).

‘That gave me a bit of time to digest it and to draw my own conclusions and to focus on the 2024 season.

‘I have had a lot of messages of support which I would like to thank the F1 world for and friends back at home. All of them have been very supportive and very encouraging.

‘My next team, I don’t know but and I’ve time to determine when that occurs subsequent. There are loads of choices on the market.

‘I am approaching the most important three or four years of my career and I want to make sure that I am in the right place.

‘I am going to listen to all the options so when I take the decision I have to give myself enough time with enough information.’

Leclerc (left) has signed a brand new deal to stick with the Scuderia till the tip of 2029

Leclerc added that he believes Ferrari’s new automobile is extra driveable than final yr’s mannequin 

Mail Sport revealed Ferrari’s overtures to Hamilton final May, and Leclerc acknowledged: ‘This kind of deal is not finalised overnight. It takes a while and I was aware of those discussions before I signed my deal, so it did not come as a surprise.

‘Obviously, Lewis is an incredible driver, the most successful in history, with a lot of experience which he brings to the team which is a good thing.

‘I have had discussions with Lewis especially when everything was announced and official. We texted each other.’

Pre-season testing comes subsequent week in Bahrain, the place we’ll study the primary clues as as to whether anybody can match the Red Bull monsters. For now, Leclerc says the automobile is extra driveable than final yr’s. He additionally factors to optimism inside the camp. A motive, together with Ferrari’s attract and historical past and status, that Hamilton has signed up.