Lewis Hamilton ‘optimistic’ for Ferrari Italian GP debut despite looming grid penalty
Lewis Hamilton is gearing up for his first Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver.
Lewis Hamilton has claimed that the sensation of pulling out of the garage in a scarlet Ferrari for the first time at the Italian GP is “everything” he could have dreamed — and more.
The positive vibes are clear, with Hamilton topping the timing sheets in Free Practice 1 and finishing within the top five in FP2.
Lewis Hamilton ‘optimistic’ after challenging run with Ferrari
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
New Ferrari hire Lewis Hamilton has emerged from F1’s mandatory summer shutdown in much better spirits than how he entered it, and that has been clear at Monza.
Prior to the break, Hamilton described himself as “useless” after failing to proceed to Q3 in the build-up to the Hungarian Grand Prix — yet the driver pointed out that he’s undertaken a major mindset shift before getting back in the car.
As such, those uncomfortable feelings have been pushed to the side — at least temporarily — as the seven-time World Champion prepares for his debut Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver.
“It’s pretty incredible,” Hamilton told F1TV when asked about his experience thus far at his new team’s home race.
“Amazing, amazing feeling leaving the garage — just the whole experience. Being in the garage, the experience we had on Thursday with the tifosi in Milan, and then to come here and drive out of the garage in a red car…
“It’s all I ever thought it would be and more.”
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Those positive emotions translated into a strong performance. Hamilton topped the charts in FP1 with a time of 1:20.117, followed closely by his teammate Charles Leclerc. In FP2, Leclerc retained the second-quickest time, while Hamilton dropped down to fifth overall.
“FP1 was a good session,” he reflected.
“FP2, we made some changes and the car was a bit worse. The good thing is we can go back on it.
“It’s better to have that in FP2 and learn from that rather than FP3.
“Lots of positives to take from today, and we’ll do some work overnight. I hope that tomorrow we can be better.
“I think the McLarens are obviously still very, very fast, and I think it’s very close with everyone in the top five and top 10.
“It’ll be a challenge, it’s not easy to overtake, and I’ve obviously got that penalty which is unfortunate. Better have it now than next year, I guess.”
That five-place grid penalty remains the only dark mark hanging over this weekend. Stewards issued the driver that penalty after the conclusion of last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, when stewards found that Hamilton had driven too quickly near the pits during the pre-race reconnaissance lap — in direct contravention of specific pre-race instructions and double-waved yellow flags.
Still, there’s positivity to be found.
“I do feel optimistic,” Hamilton admitted.
“I still feel like I can potentially move forward. I was much happier with the car today, so I hope that continues tomorrow.”
He corrected himself, saying, “It will continue tomorrow, because I’ll make the changes tonight and come with a fresh head tomorrow.”
Over on the other side of the Ferrari garage is Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc, who offered a nuanced take on the team’s Friday performance.
“On low fuel and high fuel, it’s been quite tricky but fast,” Leclerc said, before adding, “I’d rather be in this position than having a consistent car but slow.
“We need to work a little bit on consistency. On the short runs, we managed to extract more or less what was in the car.
“However, for tomorrow, we need to get that consistency, and we are working on that. With the two cars, we tried different things, especially in FP1, and it seems that we kind of know the direction for tomorrow.”
Will that early pace translate into a strong qualifying performance? That remains to be seen, with the likes of Helmut Marko pointing out that, at Monza, “Ferrari on Friday is always very good.”
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