Lewis Hamilton will be ‘reborn’ at Ferrari this season – rival Max Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton will be “reborn” at Ferrari, his rival Max Verstappen claimed at Formula One’s glitzy season launch in London.

Hamilton’s blockbuster transfer from Mercedes to the Italian giants is the major talking point ahead of the new campaign which begins in Melbourne on March 16.

And a month away from the opening round, Hamilton, 40, has come together with the grid’s 19 other drivers to launch F1’s 75th anniversary season at the O2 Arena.

Hamilton was afforded huge cheers when he presented to the 15,000 fans in attendance by host Jack Whitehall at the beginning of the two-hour show, while Verstappen received a few heckles from the London crowd.

The Briton makes the move to Ferrari after 12 seasons at Mercedes. He ended his two-and-a-half year winless streak at the British Grand Prix last July, but finished only seventh in the world championship, 214 points behind Verstappen, following a disappointing final campaign with the team that carried him to six of his seven titles.

However, when asked about his Hamilton’s chances for his new team, Verstappen – who himself is bidding to emulate Michael Schumacher by taking five consecutive crowns – said: “I don’t need motivation from anyone else but it (moving to Ferrari) is nice for Lewis.

“It will provide him with a different scenery, a new motivation. And when you have been with a team for a long time, have won a lot and then had a few tough seasons, maybe your motivation is different. Now it is almost like he is reborn.

“We all know how good Lewis is and we all know how good (Hamilton’s team-mate) Charles (Leclerc) is.

“Ferrari have two great drivers. It is going to be exciting for the sport, but it (Hamilton’s potential success) will also depend on how good the car is.”

Hamilton joins a Ferrari team that were narrowly beaten to the constructors’ title by McLaren last year. With few changes to the rulebook, Lando Norris will start the season as favourite to take the championship.

But McLaren CEO Zak Brown said: “I am definitely anticipating Lewis being a championship contender. We and Ferrari ended last year with nothing between us and I think that will continue.”

Hamilton will get his first proper taste of the machine he hopes will deliver him a record eighth world title and Ferrari’s first championship in nearly two decades, at the sole winter test in Bahrain next week.

And Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes it is imperative Hamilton is not sluggish out of the blocks.

“If Lewis gets off to a good start and he gets the team around him, he will find his confidence and he could be a real contender for this world championship,” said Horner.

“He seems to be embracing his new environment. I saw his speaking in Italian the other day – or an English version of Italian – and they (the tifosi) will love him if he is quick and he delivers.

“He will feed off that energy. But if he doesn’t get off to a good start, it will inevitably be harder for him.”

The launch in London will be presented by comedian Jack Whitehall with British pop group Take That set to bring the one-off show to celebrate the sport’s 75th season to a close.