Lewis Hamilton showed up at Monza dressed in a dark suit and a tan overcoat and carrying a black briefcase in a car so expensive a price cannot be put on it.
This was a Ferrari F40, an object of his childhood dreams, and it has been modified to his specification. It displays the registration plate ‘44’, his race number.
A fine car in red, and, by some estimates, worth about £6million if it were up at auction, but it costs what anyone will pay for it. Hamilton’s fortune is some £600m so it’s loose change whatever the financial facts of the exchange.
Yes, it represented a statement arrival from Formula One’s greatest showman as he arrived at the paddock gates. But the image he really wants to implant on the history of the Italian Grand Prix is to become the first black man to win it for Ferrari.
Helped by upgrades, Hamilton has a chance of doing that here in his second season with the Scuderia on the track where he has prevailed five times, once unforgettably in 2018, a drive so good that the disgruntled Ferrari faithful booed him afterwards.
But those victories were for McLaren and Mercedes, unwelcome incursions into a jingoistic party. Now he is on the home side.
Lewis Hamilton arrives at Monza in a dark suit, oversized brown coat and modified Ferrari F40
… the car displays the registration plate ’44’, Hamilton’s race number
‘I’ve really thought coming into this weekend about the sheer magnitude of the concept of the Italian Grand Prix,’ said the 41-year-old, who is 59 points behind Mercedes’ pacesetter Kimi Antonelli.
‘I didn’t even know that I was equal with Michael Schumacher on wins at Monza. But winning in Monza for the first time with Ferrari would be something else…
‘I witnessed team-mate Charles Leclerc win 2019 when I was on the podium with him but to do it while I’m here would be phenomenal.
‘If I did do that, I will be the only black driver to ever do that for Ferrari in Italy. A lot of those thoughts have been through my mind.
‘The pressure’s high. Also, you want to deliver for the team. There are all those people at the factory, many of them get to come to this race.
‘The Tifosi, who come out in huge numbers, and the passion is unmatched. You want to deliver for them as well.
‘And my mum’s here this weekend. I don’t think she (Brenda) has been to Monza. It’s more special. I wanted her to experience this and bring any lucky dust she can.’
