Fans turning up in Italy to catch a glimpse of Lewis Hamilton may be left disappointed, but only if he’s on Ferrari’s new test track.
The Italian squad, which blew up the internet with the arrival of the seven-time champion, now have more good news to report.
The team’s Fiorano test track, where they unveiled Hamilton in red for the first time, will be getting a new neighbour.
Auto.it report that it has been confirmed that the city council have agreed a new 120,000 square-metre circuit next to the legendary one the team used to show off the Brit in February.
The new circuit, which will simply be called ‘Test Track’ will come with the potential to connect it to its old neighbour, giving Hamilton and Charles Leclerc more miles to test out their cars.
However, the new arena will be mainly for testing the company’s road cars, showing that the luxury automotive brand is in good health.
Ferrari have already added a new building to the grounds, and this new track will include a 500 metre straight and a banked curve.
Yet for fans turning up to get a glimpse, that won’t be possible as ‘the facility will be equipped with barriers to block the view from the outside’ as per Auto.it.
Ferrari are supported like no other team in motorsport, and lovers regularly turn up at Fiorano at the start of the season for the first laps of the year.
On January 20, Hamilton was unveiled at the Maranello factory of the legendary Enzo Ferrari, and a few lucky fans waiting outside managed to get autographs and selfies.
Yet two days later, far more joined in as the 40-year-old and new teammate Leclerc headed to the Fiorano Modenese track so he could drive a Ferrari for the first time.
Hamilton’s childhood dreams came true as he lapped the team’s 2023 car, and hundreds of fans waited on a nearby bridge to get a glimpse of their new hero.
In fact, one supporter took things too far, risking a fine for cutting down a tree blocking the view to the track.
It looks like such acts won’t be possible at the new ‘Test Track’ particularly with Ferrari needing to keep their manufacturing secret from rival brands.
It will help locals in other ways, though, as it’s expected to generate other benefits for the town, including two unused concrete car parks being returned to green spaces.
After Hamilton’s first dabble in a ‘23 Ferrari on January 22, he managed a go in the ‘24 model in a private Pirelli test, but suffered a crash.
Later on February 20 he unveiled the SF-25 challenger at the F1 75 car launch in London, and then got to drive it for the first time in Bahrain pre-season testing.
Hamilton recorded the second-best time overall on day two, but was 17th in mileage covered.
He’ll get the chance to back up those testing performances when the new season gets underway with practice in Australia on March 14.