Hamilton has his say on what Imola will be like next year with Ferrari
F1 News
Of course, the biggest news in recent F1 times was that Lewis Hamilton will be leaving Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025. The seven-time World Champion earned six of his world titles at the German team, but after a tough couple of years, he will now be moving to The Prancing Horse and will rejoin Fred Vasseur after working together in GP2. At the iconic Imola circuit, it will be the first time the Tifosi have watched Hamilton knowing he will be at Ferrari next season.
Hamilton says driving in front of the Tifosi next season will be 'a dream'
During the drivers' parade at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, as well as talking about his chances in Sunday's race in his W15, the Brit spoke about how much he is looking forward to racing in Italy and in front of the Tifosi next season, something he has kept pretty quiet about.
"I need to do better in Italian, but I'm so excited," said Hamilton. "They've been so supportive for quite some time, actually, but I definitely feel the energy now, and it's going to be a dream next year, being here."
Lewis will look for some 'good battles'
It seems that the Tifosi are already getting behind the 39-year-old for next season, although they will hope his Mercedes does not outperform the Ferrar today. He continued by speaking about his chances today: "Friday was a good day, but Saturday was a little bit of a difficult day as always. Still, today is a new day, a new opportunity. It's a little bit cooler today, so I hope in front of these great fans here, we can have a good race. It's going to be tough to catch the guys further ahead, but still, we can get some good points today. I think overtaking here is quite difficult, but I think everyone's going to be given absolutely everything to try and get some good battles in."
And, of course, everyone will have the great Ayrton Senna on their minds this weekend, 30 years on from his tragic passing. Hamilton, who idolises the Brazilian, finished by saying: "It was great on Thursday with Seb [Vettel], that all the drivers came all together to pay their respects to the drivers that passed, particularly Senna. I'm hoping for a good day today. I try not to think about those things, obviously, because we've got a job to do. But Senna's always in my heart. I've always followed him since I was a kid. He's always been my favourite driver. So, whenever I drive, I always have him in spirit with me."