Lewis Hamilton is feeling the pressure ahead of his first Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari Formula 1 driver.
Monza hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the seven-time world champion lately; although he is a five-time winner of the event, his latest podium in the ‘Temple of Speed’ dates back to 2019.
More importantly, Ferrari is yet to win a grand prix this season, and Hamilton has been outperformed by team-mate Charles Leclerc throughout the campaign so far.
As the tifosi’s initial acclaim seems to turn into cautious skepticism about the 40-year-old’s lasting skills, Hamilton is aware that he needs to prove a point on Ferrari’s home ground, despite a five-place grid penalty already setting him back.
“There's obviously a huge amount of pressure on us as a team,” the Briton admitted. “More so for me now because I haven't had a good season. Next week we'll just try to absorb all the energy from the fans.”
This won’t be Hamilton’s first grand prix in Italy as a Ferrari driver, as the Imola round took place in back in May; he finished fourth at the time. However, Leclerc was keen to point out his new team-mate was still going to be “shocked” by the Monza atmosphere.
“I think our first experiences [at Monza as Ferrari drivers] are going to be very different because Lewis has lived so many incredible moments already,” the Monegasque explained.
“I'm pretty sure that he will still be shocked by how special this week feels, but he's gone through a lot more than what I had done back then. I mean, I just came from Sauber; to win in Monza with Ferrari was just unbelievable. It was all at once and it was quite crazy. But the Monza experience is unique for every driver – and especially the first one.
“I just told him how crazy it's going to be and how tiring the week is. It's a strange feeling because it's tiring, but it's full of positive energy from the Tuesday to the Sunday. So you actually don't really feel how tired you are until you actually finish the race on Sunday. And that's very positive. We've discussed about it a little bit and I think he's really looking forward to it.”
Performance-wise, Leclerc isn’t feeling overoptimistic, with a repeat of his popular 2019 and 2024 victories rather unlikely given how dominant McLaren has been.
“I hope that one of us will win. That would be very special,” he pondered. “I don't think we are the favourites, but we never know. I mean, the energy and the atmosphere there are just very, very special.”
Additional reporting by Stuart Codling
