10 May 1-7, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Seismic Shift The significance of Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari. BY DOUGLAS MARKOWITZ T his year, Formula 1 fans will learn what happens when the sport’s most unstoppable force meets its most immovable object. Lewis Hamilton, one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, is racing with Scuderia Fer- rari, the most dominant team in motorsports. The shock announcement in February 2024 that Hamilton would leave his longtime home of Mercedes-Benz, the place where he won the majority of his championships but which had lately been riddled with perfor- mance issues, overshadowed much of the fol- lowing season. The excitement around these two incredi- bly powerful entities in motorsport has un- leashed a flurry of excitement and speculation. Both team and driver are seeking to revitalize themselves: Hamilton has languished in the midfield with Mercedes since he lost the championship to Max Verstappen in 2021. Meanwhile, despite a handful of Grand Prix wins in recent years, the Scuderia is still far from catching its rivals, Red Bull and McLaren, and breaking its long winless streak in the championship. Can Ferrari guarantee Hamil- ton a record-breaking seventh title in the World Drivers’ Championship? Can the great driver lead the legendary, yet beleaguered team to its first championship since 2008? And why exactly is this partnership so significant? “Do Your Talking on the Track” Hamilton may be the most accomplished driver in F1 history, but his success was far from guaranteed. In a sport dominated by white, wealthy Europeans, he remains the first and only black athlete to ever gain a pro- file in the elite (and elitist) competition. In both grade school and at karting events, he suffered racist bullying from other kids, even taking up karate to defend himself. Yet he found encouragement from his father, An- thony, his manager until 2010, who some- times worked up to four jobs to support his early career. “My dad always said, ‘Do your talking on the track,’ so from day one I always did my talking on the track,” Hamilton has said. “Let your results speak louder than any- thing you have to say,” his dad would add. “You don’t have to say anything to these peo- ple.” The results spoke loudly from an early age, and when Hamilton was ten years old, he be- came the youngest-ever driver to win the British cadet karting championship. He signed with McLaren’s driver development program and rose through the racing ranks, finally debuting for the team in 2007 opposite Fernando Alonso. A record-setting debut sea- son saw him surpass his championship-win- ning teammate but fall short of Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen for the title. The next year, he took it for himself, the first of a record seven total World Drivers’ Championships. Hamilton won his first and last championship for McLaren in 2008. In 2013, he gambled on the then-still-green Mercedes team, partnering with old karting mate Nico Rosberg. For the next three years, the two dueled on the track and feuded off of it as they fought for dominance. After conceding two consecutive championships to Hamilton in 2014 and 2015, Rosberg finally prevailed in 2016 after a controversial final race before retiring from the sport. With his rival out of the way, Hamilton embarked on the most dominant run by a driver in F1 history, bringing Mercedes four titles in a row from 2017 to 2020 and equaling Michael Schumacher’s record of seven career championships. The dynasty toppled in 2021 under dramatic circumstances as he at- tempted to fend off rising star Max Verstap- pen at Red Bull. Amplified by the sport’s growing post-pandemic popularity, with Net- flix’s Drive to Survive docuseries courting new fans around the world, the two engaged in the most riveting title fight seen in years, culminating in a literal last-minute fight to the finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. After going into the race dead even on points, Ver- stappen emerged victorious, though some ar- gued it was handed to him thanks to a controversial decision from the stewards. Hamilton stayed at Mercedes for three more lackluster years before announcing his move to Ferrari. He’s still on the lookout for that record-shattering eighth title, but the 40-year-old driver doesn’t have much left to prove. He is indisputably the winningest driver in Formula 1 history, and his success in the sport as someone who defied barriers to excel in a hostile environment has indisput- ably broadened its appeal. “Second Place Is First Loser” Just as a finely-bred race horse needs a tal- ented jockey to take advantage of its pedigree, so does the oldest and most successful team on the grid need the best drivers in the world to ride their cars to victory. And just as every young soccer player dreams of playing for Real Madrid or Barcelona, so does Scuderia Ferrari occupy an even greater position in the minds of every Formula 1 driver. Everyone wants to ride il Cavallino Rampante, the Prancing Pony. The team’s history dates back to before F1 was even established. Founded in 1929 by for- mer driver Enzo Ferrari, the Scuderia (Italian for “stable”) initially raced cars built by Alfa Romeo before building their own. Since F1 was established in 1950, the team has won 22.5 percent of all races — a full fifth of the to- tal victories in the sport belong to them. Leg- endary drivers have won the championship in their cars, including Juan Manuel Fangio, Niki Lauda, Räikkönen, and, greatest of all, Schumacher, who drove the Scuderia to a dy- nasty of five consecutive trophies from 2000 to 2004. The team has also found success in endur- ance racing, winning the World Sportscar Championship 12 times and its flagship race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, nine times. It also conquered the infamous Mille Miglia race eight times before a horrific crash in the 1957 edition killed eleven people, including Ferrari driver Alfonso de Portago. The incident is dra- matized in Michael Mann’s 2023 film Ferrari. Indeed, beyond the victories, Ferrari is a magnet for both adoration and controversy. Enzo was famous for his ruthless attitude toward his drivers, holding the cutthroat philosophy “Second place is first loser.” Eight drivers, including de Portago, died under his watch in the deadly early days of motor racing, and the team has weathered other scandals in the years since. Even so, it remains the most passionately supported team in motorsports, backed by an army of demanding fans known as the tifosi. Ferrari is a symbol of the Italian nation itself, the red color of its cars derived from the rosso corsa Italian racing red. Beyond motorsport, it’s an iconic global brand, from the con- sumer sports cars that have dominated Hol- lywood movies and TV (remember James Crockett’s white Ferrari on Miami Vice?) to recent forays into designer fashion and life- style products. ▼ Culture Hamilton is still on the lookout for that record-shattering eighth title. Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images
