Hamilton on Italian fans: 'I'm not going to lie...'
F1 News
- Jeroen Immink
Lewis Hamilton will from next year consider the Italian Grand Prix as one of his home races. Then, the seven-time world champion will become a Ferrari driver. Once he arrives at the Monza circuit, the Briton already feels the passion of the Italian fans and Charles Leclerc has already indicated in doing so that this will only get more so.
"I'm not going to lie, it definitely does feel a little bit different. I mean it always feels special when you come here," Hamilton revealed. "We're coming here at a decent time in terms of the weather's incredible today, obviously the huge changes that were made to the track, but as Charles was saying, there's always such incredible passion throughout Italy, just in the culture in general, but particularly about racing," said Hamilton, who had a difficult weekend at Zandvoort.
Can Hamilton already speak a word of Italian?
Asked if Hamilton has already dived into the books to learn Italian, the Briton was quite clear. "My Italian is definitely not very good. It's probably the same as it was when I was in karting, which was pretty bad. I've had some people that have asked me to sign the Ferrari Caps and I've been like, ‘No, no, no, it's too early, it's too soon.’ They're trying to get ahead of the head of the curve. But I have signed some caps obviously," Hamilton added. Hamilton has signed for multiple seasons with the Scuderia, replacing Carlos Sainz, who in turn is leaving for Williams.
Leclerc looks forward to working with Hamilton
Hamilton will be joined at Ferrari by Leclerc as a teammate. The Monegasque is confident Hamilton will be well liked by Italian fans. "I don't think Lewis needs any kind of advice. But it's definitely very, very special. To be driving for Ferrari in Monza and in Italy, there's something that is iconic. And yeah, it's such a special feeling, the amount of support we have. We obviously have it everywhere in the world, but whenever we are in Italy, it's extra special."
He continued: "It's difficult to get in and out of the hotel every morning and every evening. But it's a very special feeling. And we have so much support, so it's motivating us at the maximum. But Lewis will be experiencing that next year. And we'll experience that together. And I'm sure it will be a special year. But until then, we've got to maximise and hopefully put the car a bit higher up in the standing," Leclerc explained.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi
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