As Lewis Hamilton adjusts to life as a Ferrari driver, a warning from Damon Hill that he could run like a “scalded cat” if they don’t provide a competitive car has resurfaced.

Almost a year after announcing he would be leaving Mercedes for Ferrari, Hamilton experienced his long-awaited first day as a Ferrari driver on Monday.

Lewis Hamilton is officially a Ferrari driver, but for how long?

The seven-time World Champion met with team principal Fred Vasseur, chief executive Benedetto Vigna and vice chairman of Ferrari Piero Ferrari on his first official day.

Traditional Day One photographs were taken outside Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari’s iconic house before Hamilton got down to business as he drove the team’s simulator and also met the team he’ll be working with, including his new race engineer Riccardo Adami.

It was a monumental moment for both the 40-year-old and his new Formula 1 team, but it was one that had long been anticipated.

Hamilton was linked to Ferrari several times in the past, but any talk of switching teams was scuppered by either the timing of his own Mercedes contract extensions or new deals for Ferrari’s number one driver.

The Briton’s last Mercedes contract was signed in August 2023, a one-plus-one deal, but just months later, and after talks with Ferrari chairman John Elkann, he was persuaded to swap silver for red, enticed by the reported offer of a three-year deal.

Hamilton’s first day as a Ferrari driver was met with the hype many predicted, fans flocking to Maranello to catch a glimpse of his arrival ahead of his first run in a Ferrari F1 car which is scheduled for Wednesday.

Hamilton also marked the occasion by posting the photograph of himself in front of Ferrari’s house, captioning it: “There are some days that you know you’ll remember forever and today, my first as a Ferrari driver, is one of those days.”

Hill replied to his Instagram post: “There it is, the beginning @scuderiaferrari”

But while the 1996 World Champion is, like many, excited to see how the Hamilton and Ferrari partnership unfolds, he once warned that it could be short-lived if Ferrari don’t design a race-winning car.

Discussing it in his 2021 book ‘Lights Out, Full Throttle’, he said as per F1Oversteer: “What certainly would make a difference is if Ferrari gave him a bad car. If that happened the fizz would go right out of it. It wouldn’t matter how much money they were paying him.

“If Lewis Hamilton was in an uncompetitive car he’d be out of that team faster than a scalded cat.”

As things stand, Hamilton is thought to have a three-year deal with Ferrari as alluded to by James Allen on his recent podcast.

“There’s the line that he had to make a choice: Where do I have the biggest chance to win the Championship in ’25, ’26, ’27, and he said Ferrari.”

As for his salary, that’s rumoured to be between “50 and 55 million a year”, but whatever the number is, according to Ben Hunt is “more than Mercedes were” paying him.