Lewis Hamilton is racing in Italy for the first time since announcing his move to Ferrari for the 2025 season. Hamilton has spent much of his career as an enemy of the Tifosi.
In his first two years in the sport, he went up against Ferrari drivers for the title. Kimi Raikkonen beat him by one point in 2007, but he then snatched the championship from Felipe Massa in the final race of 2008.
He renewed his rivalry with the Italian giants during his time with Mercedes as he went up against Sebastian Vettel. Fans at Monza directed boos in his direction after his victories in 2017 and 2018.
But now Hamilton is joining the Prancing Horse as he pursues an unprecedented eighth title. Ferrari will see him as the man who can end their long drought, stretching all the way back to Raikkonen’s triumph.
He’ll partner Charles Leclerc next year after Ferrari decided to let Carlos Sainz go. Vettel has warned him that it will be ‘difficult’ to adapt to the unique environment after spending his entire career at British teams.
But Hamilton himself is ‘looking forward’ to learning a new challenge and embracing the culture at Maranello. He’s signed a multi-year deal with the Scuderia, so he’ll be racing for them until at least the end of 2026.
Lewis Hamilton received ‘fantastic’ reception from the Tifosi
Speaking live on Sky Sports F1 ahead of practice at Imola, pundit Karun Chandhok shared how the attitude of the Ferrari faithful had changed. They greeted Hamilton with cheers when he arrived in the paddock on Friday.
The 39-year-old has been interacting with the fans while remaining respectful of current employers Mercedes. Chandhok has sensed considerable excitement about the prospect of him racing in scarlet red.
“The Tifosi are all pouring in, not just to see Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz,” he said. “I tell you what, Lewis Hamilton – their driver for next year and beyond – got a fantastic reception when he arrived in the paddock this morning.
Later in the session, he added: “There’s Lewis Hamilton waving to the Italian fans. They really seemed to have welcomed him in and warmed to the idea of him being a Ferrari driver.
“It’s going to be an interesting weekend for Lewis. This is his first time racing in Italy since he signed that Ferrari contract.”
‘Toto Wolff will stop Lewis Hamilton visiting Ferrari HQ’
The Imola circuit is located just over 50 miles from Ferrari’s Maranello base. This led F1 journalist Tom Clarkson to suggest that Hamilton may visit the facility for the first time after the race.
But Damon Hill doesn’t see it happening. He thinks Toto Wolff will refuse on the grounds that Hamilton is still under contract and shouldn’t be ‘fraternising with the enemy’.
It’s unclear whether the 103-time winner would be willing to make the trip at this stage anyway. Wolff has previously praised the professionalism he’s shown since the February announcement.
Ferrari have taken a couple of key figures from Mercedes recently in the form of senior engineer Loic Serra and academy director Jerome D’Ambrosio. Two Scuderia employees will move in the opposite direction in a ‘quid pro quo’ arrangement but Wolff has yet to announce them.
It remains to be seen whether Hamilton brings race engineer Peter Bonnington with him to Italy. Bonnington has been his right-hand man ever since he joined Mercedes in 2013, helping him win six of his seven titles.
The post 'I tell you what': Karun Chandhok shares what Ferrari fans did when they saw Lewis Hamilton at Imola GP appeared first on F1 Oversteer.
