In my last post on the 2024 F1 season from December that you can read in full here, should you want to, I wrote the following with regards to Lewis’s move to Ferrari in 2025: “At Ferrari, Charles Leclerc who doesn’t mind the limelight will have quite a lot of competition for it with Lewis alongside him (…)”. Well, it took about as long for that to come through as it took president Trump to issue his first executive order. In his first official picture for Ferrari, Lewis puts any doubts as to who is the current king of F1 to rest.

Lewis loves fashion, but it’s usually in the XXXL rapper style that isn’t necessarily to everyone’s taste. Not so here. In a perfect, carefully selected suit, along with coat and accessories, he’s also chosen as car the most iconic Ferrari of them all if you’re a Gen X:er. By pure coincidence, that’s not only the core generation among current F1 enthusiasts, but also the group with capital. It’s a masterful illustration of who’s in charge, and something Max Verstappen can match as little as Novak Djokovic can match the aura of Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal.

Let’s remember that what Lewis has done is pretty remarkable. I’m not referring to his seven world titles here, but rather to the fact that having been on a downward slope for the last years with Mercedes and with most thinking it more likely that he leaves F1, not only did he manage to pick up the pace at Mercedes in the last year, he also made Ferrari believe enough in him to offer him a contract – at the age of 40. The first picture proves them right, and I for one cross my fingers that next season does so even more!