Mercedes sponsor the latest to mimic iconic Lewis Hamilton Ferrari image

Mercedes sponsor the latest to mimic iconic Lewis Hamilton Ferrari image

 

Mercedes sponsors IWC have followed in the footsteps of Red Bull’s junior team and Jeremy Clarkson by recreating Lewis Hamilton’s iconic first photograph as a Ferrari driver.

Today (February 1) marks a year since Hamilton’s move to Ferrari from Mercedes for the F1 2025 season was announced, with the seven-time World Champion agreeing a multi-year contract with the Italian team.

Mercedes sponsors IWC recreate Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari image

Hamilton made his first public appearances as a Ferrari driver last month, making his first official visit to the team’s Maranello factory and testing a Ferrari F1 car for the first time at the team’s Fiorano test track.

The British driver’s preparations for the new season suffered a setback this week at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where he crashed heavily during Ferrari’s second private test of the winter.

Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc are due to return to the Spanish Grand Prix venue in the coming days, driving a modified version of Ferrari’s 2024 car to assist Pirelli’s development of the new tyres for F1 2026.

Analysis: Lewis Hamilton joins Ferrari from Mercedes for F1 2025

Hamilton’s first day at Ferrari was immortalised by the release of an official photograph of the seven-time World Champion stood outside the house used as an office by legendary team founder Enzo Ferrari.

He is pictured alongside a Ferrari F40, described by the team as Hamilton’s favourite supercar.

The image proved a huge hit on social media and stands as the most-liked F1-related Instagram post of all time, with 5.6 million reactions at the time of writing.

The image has been replicated elsewhere across the F1 world, with Red Bull junior team VCARB posting a mock-up image of new signing Isack Hadjar wearing a blazer outside the team’s factory.

The caption took inspiration from Hamilton’s first official statement as a Ferrari driver, reading: “There are some days that you know you’ll remember forever and today is one of those days.”

Days later, celebrity F1 fan Clarkson took to Instagram to post an image of himself suited and booted beside to a Range Rover

on his farm.