Lewis Hamilton says his first Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver was motivated to work as hard as possible to achieve his dream of winning the Scuderia at Monza.
Ferrari has always enjoyed extensive support at home races, and Tifosi has been in huge numbers since the beginning of the weekend. Hamilton was part of a big fan event in central Milan at the beginning of the week, and after a race at the Pitwall, where he engaged with the crowds in the pits and straights, he says the special experience has lived up to expectations.
“I think it was everything you could ever expect,” Hamilton said. “Of course you want to fight front, but being on the receiver was incredible, meaning that it’s just a Ferrari around the track. Now you can see straight, as long as you can see.
“Driving for this team is a dream and I’m really going to work as hard as I can to get on top of that podium. That’s my dream.”
Hamilton was competitive throughout the weekend, with fifth place taking one spot behind teammate Charles Leclerc, but had to start 10th due to the grid penalty he scored at Zandvoort. Upon climbing the field he quickly recovered to sixth, but was unable to get George Russell better first, and was philosophical about the end result.
“Yeah, there were definitely some good overtakings. It’s hard to try and chase all the other cars from the 10th place (after qualifying for the fifth).
“So I think I’m generally very pleased with the overall performance. And I think this is as good as we got. I think we probably wouldn’t have seen it if we undercut Mercedes… I think we missed it.”
Team principal Fred Vasser agreed that Ferrari’s strategic attempt to get Russell through was unrewarded as Hamilton showed a pace that bothered Mercedes.
“It’s not like the pace has slowed down,” Vasser said. “I think we came back to Russell at the end of our first stint. Then we have a bet and have the advantage of the tires at the end, but the disassembly was too low and it didn’t work.
“But I think it was the best way to get Russell back on track. I’d probably have pitted Lewis a bit earlier if I had to do it again, but I think trying something different was the best option.”
