F1’s post-season test takes place today in Abu Dhabi, but 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lewis Hamilton will be a notable absentee.

Several drivers including 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Carlos Sainz (Williams), 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Esteban Ocon (Haas) and168澳洲5最新开奖结果: Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) will get t🥂he chance to make a head start on their preparations with their new teams in the end-of🔥-season test.

Hamilton won’🌜t get that opportunity with Ferrari. But🌄 why not?

The seven-time world champion, who capped off his final race with Mercedes with a superb fightback from 16th on the grid to finish fourth in Sunday’s F1 2024 finale, will complete a farewell tour with the Silver Ar🔯row♓s.

Complex contractual arrangements in Hamilton’s Mercedes deal - which does not expire until December 31 - plus the fact that Mercedes and Ferrari are big rivals, have prevented the 39-yearꦫ-old from making an early cameo for the Prancing Horse. 

One of these obligations will see Hamilton make an😼 appearance for Mercedes title sponsor Petronas on the same day as the Abu Dhabi test.

“We have contractual agreements with sponsors, we’re having a f🦂arewell for Lewis,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff recently confirmed.

“A lot of activities tha꧒t are planned. Him and I, we spok♛e about it briefly, and he said ‘I guess that’s not going to work’, and I said ‘Yeah I don’t think it’s going to work’.

“💝I don’t thinꩲk Fred [Vasseur, Ferrari team principal] is particularly sad.”

Instead, Hamilton will ne🅘ed to wait until early next year before he ma🐎kes his debut for F1’s most famous team.

Hamilton’s first run for the Scuderia is exဣpected to be in a 2022 car at Ferrari’s private Fiorano test track in early 2025.

Hamilton ‘in two minds’ about Ferrari run

Hamilton, who has made his lack of enjoyment of testing well known, has admitted to having some mixed emotionಞs about not getting an early run for Ferrari.

“I know Fred wanted it to happen. For me, I was in two minds,” he explaineꦍd.

“Driving the red car 💙for the first time in Abu Dhabi does not excite me. 🌊In a perfect world, you get to drive it, not be seen, and do the first rollout next year.

“When I did raise it, obviously with Toto,  they had all these plans that I've got to go and 🍰see some of the sponsors and say their farewells.

“So I don't think it was ever going to actually be allowed, even if I had asked to have done it, because I'm contracted to the team until December 31st and that's tota☂lly fine.

"But it doesn't bother me, again, ✱because I wasn't going to do the test.”

Hamilton did concede that not doing the test will make his Ferrari transi♒tion that bit “harder”.

“It's not what I wanted to do. I told Fred that's not what I wanted to do𒁃,” he added.

“Am I missing out on something? For sure. It definitely delays the process and maꦿkes the start of the year harder, but we'll do our best to recover.”

However, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur downpl🗹ayed the impact of Hamiꦚlton not taking part in the test.

“I'm not sure that he needs 𒐪tons of hours of acclimatisation,” Vasseur told Motorsport.com.

“He iꦆs experienced enough to be quick on the first day, or at least very soon. We'll have one or two TPC days, plus the test in Bahrain, and that will be enough.”