Stella: It was a great introduction of Hamilton to Ferrari

Being a former Ferrari employee himself, Stella has had his fair share of moments when star drivers joined Ferrari, having been around when Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, and Fernando Alonso joined Maranello, as the final post he held with the Reds was being the race engineer of the latter before following him to McLaren in 2015.

But despite that, Stella was impressed by how Hamilton and Ferrari handled the start of their relationship, a crucial media exercise given the huge anticipation for what could easily be labeled the F1 news of the decade.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 at the Autosport awards, the Italian said: "Observing from a distance, I can say that I think how this has been reported, it was a great introduction of Lewis to Ferrari.

"To be honest, as a fan of F1, by having been 15 years at Ferrari before, I felt excited myself to see something that is historic for F1—a seven-time World Champion going to Ferrari, one of the most iconic teams," he added.

However, Stella, whose team won the 2024 F1 constructors' championship, insisted that the serious business for Hamilton and Ferrari comes after the media fanfare that took place back in January when the seven-time F1 champion first stepped into Via Abetone Inferiore 4.

"I think Ferrari and Hamilton handled this very well," he said but warned: "Ultimately, I’m sure they know very well that what counts is what’s happening on track.

"After the initial excitement, I’m sure they will focus very much on making sure that the preparation is good, and on our side, we will try and make their life a little bit difficult!" Stella concluded.

Ferrari was McLaren's closest rival in the fight for the 2024 F1 constructors' crown but missed out by 14 points.