It was always a given that Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari this year would be the biggest storyline of the pre-season. However, what has been remarkable is that the craze about seeing him in the Scarlet Red of Ferrari does not seem to have reduced one bit even though it has been a month since he stepped foot in Maranello.
Clips featuring him are continuing to break records, with fans wanting to get a glimpse of him in the colors of Ferrari. It all started with his debut run in Fiorano last month. While pictures of the Briton at Ferrari’s factory and the test track broke records on social media, many were keen to see Hamilton in Ferrari overalls officially for the first time.
That occasion was going to come at the ‘F1 75’ event held at the O2 in London on February 18th. Thousands of fans gathered to watch F1’s season launch event and millions watched from home, with most eagerly awaiting to see Hamilton and the rest of the team unveil the Scuderia’s 2025 livery.
Per F1 reporter Vincenzo Landino, the viewership of the F1 75 live event was 4.6 million for the entirety of the broadcast. Meanwhile, the viewership reached its peak at 1.1 million when Hamilton and Ferrari came out to unveil the SF-25. It was a moment that underscored the 40-year-old legend’s aura in F1.
The crowd present at The O2 broke the decibel levels, considering the applause Hamilton received when he walked out on stage.
The appetite for live, high-production digital experiences in sports is bigger than ever.@F1 75 Live from @theO2 London saw 1.1 million concurrent live viewers at its peak (Ferrari + Lewis Hamilton) and 4.6 million total viewers across the entirety of the broadcast. pic.twitter.com/TH4zSxykPU
— Vincenzo Landino (@vincenzolandino) February 21, 2025
The seven-time world champion’s move to Ferrari is a huge deal for the sport itself. Each of his firsts with the Scuderia will be celebrated as a significant milestone moment. And even Hamilton is feeling the emotional weight of those moments with each passing day.
Hamilton feels “invigorated” at Ferrari
With Hamilton having spent almost two decades in F1, he knows better than anyone else the best way to pump up a crowd. As soon as he walked out on stage, he asked those gathered at The O2, “How you doing London? You good?”
Soon there were loud cheers from the jam-packed crowd, the kind of positive energy that has invigorated Hamilton at Ferrari. “I think the word I’m thinking of is invigorated because I feel so full of life with so much energy because everything’s new,” the Briton replied when asked to describe his emotions in one word.
Hamilton definitely seemed to need the positive energy of the crowd as he and his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc did not seem that interested in the F1 75 event. The Ferrari duo were spotted playing Chess, at a time when millions of fans around the world were glued to their screens to see what F1 had planned for their biggest livery launch in history.
Although the event as a whole received mixed reviews, it seems that just the presence of Hamilton for any such event is likely to make it a success. Such has been the love that the seven-time champion has received from fans.
