The seven-time world champion will then get a chance to test his new toy against his competitors at the pre-season testing event in Bahrain.

Lewis Hamilton is gunning for a record eighth World ChampionshipReutersAnticipation is building ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix where Hamilton will be hoping to compete at the front of the grid.

And Chandhok feels a win early in the campaign could cause a spike in popularity for the sport as a whole.

“If Lewis wins one of the first three races of the season, the whole F1 world will go mad.

“Selfishly, for us, I think it’ll be good for business.

“But I think more broadly, it’ll be good for the sport. Seeing Lewis winning in a Ferrari will just be great for the sport.”

Chandhok also believes Hamilton’s switch from Mercedes to Ferrari came at the right time for the 40-year-old.

He added: “I think it feels fresh, it feels like it’s a proper reset, he looks energised. I think it’ll do him good.

“I think there were so many times last year where he looked like he’d rather be anywhere else but in the car, especially in qualifying.

Fans lined the streets to watch Lewis Hamilton

“He just didn’t look like he was enjoying qualifying last year, which is weird to say for a guy who’s the most successful qualifier in F1 history.

“So, I hope this energises him. I hope that the car suits him and it would be an amazing story.”

The former Hispania Racing and Team Lotus star also gave an insight into the reaction Hamilton has received in Italy and suggested it was even greater than Michael Schumacher’s impact.

Michael Schumacher was an icon with Ferrari

GETTY

“From when those first pictures or that first picture came out of him standing like Al Capone in front of Enzo Ferrari’s house, everywhere we’ve gone, there’s been just an unbelievable level of interest,” he said.

“Everywhere we’ve gone, my local coffee shop, people have been just standing in the queue. People are going, ‘Oh, I can’t wait for Melbourne, I can’t wait for the first race’. I think there’s a genuine buzz, especially in the UK because it is a big story for Lewis and it’s a big UK story.

“But what is also interesting to me is how big a story it is in Italy. I think they haven’t seen this level of excitement ever, frankly. When they had Schumacher come there, that was pre-social media. It was in the 1990s, you didn’t have the level of engagement and interest and information passing as well that we have now.”