Racing
© Liauzh
Lewis Hamilton was seen driving Ferrari’s rare three-seater Formula 1 car at the team’s private Fiorano circuit only days after claiming his first grand prix victory for the Scuderia in Barcelona, giving his latest Ferrari appearance immediate attention beyond a race weekend.
Video circulating on social media showed Hamilton at the wheel of Ferrari’s famed three-seat model with two passengers on board, seated behind him on either side as he lapped the Fiorano track. The footage quickly spread online, with fans reacting as much to the car itself as to the sight of Hamilton driving it so soon after his breakthrough win in red.
Ferrari’s three-seater is one of the most unusual machines the team has produced. Designed by Rory Byrne in 2003 and based on the dominant F2002, the project was created to give selected guests an experience as close as possible to riding in a Formula 1 car. The concept was later revised and modernized in 2013, but it kept the layout that made it distinctive, with the driver in the center and two passenger seats flanking behind.
Its mechanical appeal remains a major part of the attraction. The car is powered by a 3.0-litre V10 engine producing more than 800 horsepower, a specification that helps explain why the Fiorano run drew so much interest once the clips appeared online. In a social media post cited in the coverage, RobertoF1 wrote that Hamilton was at Fiorano driving the three-seat F1 car and added that “the roar of the naturally aspirated engine is always poetry.”
The reaction from fans was immediate. One Reddit user wrote, “This is absolutely amazing and I can only imagine how f***ing cool it would be to go be in that car with Lewis driving.” Another strand of the response centered on surprise that Ferrari’s triplace is still active more than two decades after it was first conceived, particularly given its roots in one of the team’s most successful cars.
The timing gave the outing extra weight. Hamilton arrived at Fiorano a few days after securing his first Ferrari grand prix win at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, a result that marked a significant early milestone in his time with the team. According to the summaries, that victory also left him second in the drivers’ championship, 41 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli.
That made the Fiorano appearance more than a curiosity around an unusual car. It was the latest sign of Hamilton’s momentum at Ferrari after his first win, with the seven-time world champion now chasing Antonelli from second place as his start with the Scuderia gathers pace.