MONZA, ITALY — As he left the garage to start opening practice at the Italian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton met a wall of red noise.
It’s a routine he’s been through over 1,000 times in his Formula One career. But this was different. For the very first time at Monza, Ferrari’s sacred ground, he was exiting the pits in the cockpit of one of the famous red cars in front of the tifosi stationed opposite in the track’s main grandstand.
Through the gap in his helmet, Hamilton could see a giant, red flag in the shape of the heart be unfurled before he went onto the track, Ferrari’s prancing horse logo at its center. Practically every fan in the grandstand wore red, some waving flags, including a few Union Jacks.
The cheers for Hamilton as he peeled out of the pits were even louder than those for his teammate, Charles Leclerc, the leader of Ferrari’s ambitions since 2019 and a two-time winner at Monza.
The fans knew they were witnessing a big moment in the stories of both Hamilton and Ferrari, their fates intertwined through what has been a rollercoaster first season in red for the seven-time world champion.
Since his bombshell move to Ferrari was announced in February 2024, Hamilton has had a few tastes of what to expect from the tifosi – his team’s ardent, loyal fanbase. There was already a positive shift last year at Monza, anticipating his arrival, and by the time he started work with Ferrari in January, hundreds of fans were waiting at Maranello’s factory gates to welcome the team’s latest star.
But Monza is very different. Compared to Imola, Italy’s other F1 track that hosted the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May, this race amps up the passion and the emotions for the home fans. Monza and nearby Milan turn scarlet red for the weekend.
“You feel very special as a Ferrari driver wherever we go because we have a lot of support,” Leclerc told reporters on Thursday. “But whenever you come to Monza, it’s just different.”
Hamilton on the track, watched by a sea of red. (Clive Rose / Getty Images)
Ferrari always makes a concerted effort at Monza. The track has been on the F1 calendar every year since 1950, aside from 1980 when the Italian GP took place at Imola. There are some special events in the lead-up to the race weekend. On Wednesday night, thousands of fans packed into the Palazzo Reale in central Milan to see Hamilton and Leclerc, both looking out on the enormous crowd from a balcony.
“To be in Milan, really in the heart of it all and seeing the fans and just how passionate they were … wow,” Hamilton said in the FIA news conference at Monza on Thursday. “It was intense but very positive. I really tried to harness all that good energy that they gave us.”
Hamilton has worked hard to connect with the tifosi and Ferrari as a whole since starting with the team. He was taking Italian lessons from the middle of 2024 and made a concerted effort to meet every single person at the factory during his first few days.
When he was doing private test running in pre-season, Hamilton parked his motorhome up at Ferrari’s Fiorano track in order to integrate himself further and be as close as possible to the factory. Such is the legend of Ferrari, soaking up every ounce of what this team meant would be a privilege, not a chore.
“When you walk in and then see the Ferrari logo, I still have to pinch myself,” Hamilton said. “It’s really so unique. There are always people outside the factory. I’ve never seen fans outside of a factory before in any of my years and you see that every single time. There’s just such a positive energy, clearly so much love for this brand and what it means to people.”
Going into 2025, Hamilton knew the pressure would be on for quick success. Ferrari was entering the new season off the back of an encouraging 2024, when it fell just short of a first constructors’ championship since 2008. Both publicly and privately, Hamilton held absolute belief that Ferrari had everything it needed for him to win a record-breaking and, of late, elusive eighth world championship.
But the reality of this season has been very different to that expectation. Ferrari has struggled to get its car into a happy window for best performance on track, falling behind the surging McLaren team. Early highs such as Hamilton’s sprint race win in 2025’s round two in China have been tempered out by lows, such as the double disqualification a day later in Shanghai, after both Ferrari cars failed a post-race technical check.
The nadir came in Hungary just before the August summer break, when Hamilton called himself “useless” after being knocked out in Q2 in Budapest and suggested Ferrari should change its star driver. Then, last weekend at Zandvoort, a mistake resulted in him crashing out of the race, spoiling what had otherwise been a positive weekend.
Hamilton led first practice at Monza, then was fifth in FP2. (Mark Thompson / Getty Images)
In 15 grands prix up to Monza, Hamilton still hasn’t scored a podium, his longest drought in his F1 career, which stretches back to 2007.
“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster,” Hamilton acknowledged on Thursday. “Did I expect it to be as volatile in terms of feeling? No. But that’s life. Even though we had a difficult Sunday (at Zandvoort), we’re coming out on the brighter end of the tunnel.”
Gaining that positivity going into Monza, Ferrari’s most important weekend of the year, was crucial for Hamilton. He needed every bit of good energy to carry him through a hectic week, one Leclerc had advised him could feel exhausting by come Sunday night.
“I definitely told Lewis that it’s quite a tiring week,” Leclerc said. “But the good thing is that you don’t feel tired at all throughout the week, you just feel particularly tired on Sunday night when everything is gone. But before that, there’s so much positive energy around us that you only take that as a positive. And you’re always super motivated to get back on track and to just live the moment.”
That motivation combined with Hamilton’s own reverence and fondness for his memories of watching Ferrari as a kid and seeing Michael Schumacher winning race after race. For all his success with McLaren (between 2007 and 2012) and, more significantly, Mercedes (2013-2024), the prospect of one day racing one of the red cars was too great for Hamilton to resist.
Resetting for Monza was made that bit more difficult for Hamilton, after he was given a five-place grid penalty for going too quickly under double waved yellow flags before last week’s Dutch GP. Hamilton said it was “pretty hardcore” to get such a severe penalty and have it carried over to this week instead of serving it in Zandvoort. This didn’t happen because the FIA took the decision to investigate the incident following the race.
“To be set back five places is not great when you’re going into your first Monza GP with Ferrari,” Hamilton said. “But it gives me more to fight for. I’m very motivated to make up those places regardless.”
Hamilton started the race weekend in perfect fashion, leading a Ferrari 1-2 in opening practice on Friday afternoon.
Fans display a banner, saying I’l Trono Di Lewis (The Throne of Lewis). (Philippe Lopez / AFP via Getty Images)
Huge cheers rippled through the grandstands after his lap time sent him to the head of the timesheets, before he got a rapturous applause upon crossing the line at the end of the session. Hamilton also made sure to take a moment to cross the pit lane and wave to the fans through the pit wall (see top image). It may only have been one practice session, but starting so confidently was a welcome boost for everyone wearing red.
Staying so high up the timesheets will be a challenge for Hamilton. McLaren’s pace this year makes it the unequivocal favorite. But with every gear change and steering wheel turn this weekend, Hamilton will have that extra bit of urgency and motivation.
And in his 19th season in F1, it will still be something fresh and new. Few drivers have done as much — and no-one has won as much — as Hamilton in F1. Yet at 40 years old, with 105 GP wins, he will finally drink in the adulation and love of the tifosi as one of its own this weekend.
“I want to give them absolutely everything to get the best result for them,” Hamilton said. “Because the passion and the support they’ve given me and this team is like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
(Top image: Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images)