Lewis Hamilton is sleeping over at Ferrari HQ

An F1 insider has revealed that Lewis Hamilton has been staying at Ferrari's Maranello base of late.

Don't worry, he's not been kicked out of his own flat (oh? You weren't worried about that? Okay, that's fair), but instead made the decision to stick close to base for crucial pre-season preparations.

The Brit got to drive the new SF-26 for the first time on Friday, taking it out for a (very) brief spin in front of the Tifosi after the 2026 livery was presented to fans online in a pulse-pounding hype video.

His team-mate Charles Leclerc also got a quick run out, completing a couple of laps and a practice start before the car was brought back to the garage to cool down and have a snooze.

Barretto: Hamilton staying at Maranello motorhome

F1.com's Lawrence Barretto got a behind-the-scenes look at the Ferrari launch day, and detailed his experience the next day while also producing a couple of extra nuggets of info.

"Lewis Hamilton," he wrote, "had the shorter commute, relative to Charles Leclerc, as he was staying in his motorhome at the track. In fact, he's actually been staying here for the last week for meetings and pre-season prep."

Hamilton later told Barretto: "The good thing is when you come back you always hope you fit. Fortunately it fit completely fine. It’s just so exciting when they fire the car up and you get the new vibration of the car through your body, and then they open up the door and you end up going down to Turn 1 where you can see the Tifosi.

"That’s something that I will never get used to, and something that I’ll never be able to forget. But today’s really about reconnecting with the team, reconnecting with that passion of all the people that follow this team. It’s just a day that reignites you. It really also reminds me of why I love doing what I do and why I love this sport."

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