Lewis Hamilton after the Ferrari F40 show: The incredible story of the supercar

In the paddock at the Monza circuit, Lewis Hamilton says: “Competing at Monza as a Ferrari driver – you can’t beat that. Ferrari is iconic, Monza is iconic, the Tifosi are iconic – it doesn’t get any better than this.”

Speaking about the Ferrari F40, Hamilton says: “I’d been looking for an F40 for ages; I wanted a car with a history and low mileage. And a few years ago, I found one. The owner bought the car, drove it the whole 69 kilometres home from the Ferrari factory in Maranello, parked it there and never used it again. Just imagine that: the passenger door has never been opened!”

“After buying it, I thought: ‘Right, do I leave it gathering dust or do I restore it?’ I decided to restore it. But we hardly had to replace a single part. And now here’s the kicker – the engine is engraved with ‘Engine Number 44’, which is my race number! I said: ‘You can’t be serious, can you?’ But it’s really true. How crazy is that?»

“I always used to think it was fabulous how Formula 1 drivers used to drive around in the most beautiful sports cars, and I longed to drive a really great car myself – and the F40 is simply fabulous.”

“That’s why I wanted to go Ferrari-style this weekend, with exactly this car and exactly these clothes. I wanted to make a statement and also pay homage to the old days, when the drivers used to turn up at the circuits looking so incredibly cool.”

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Hamilton starts to laugh. “Back when I was still a kart driver, my dad and I used to hire a Fiat 500 and drive it to the kart track. Suddenly, Keke Rosberg was driving ahead of us with his son Nico – in a Lamborghini Diablo. I thought: ‘Wow! How cool is that?’ Of course, we tried to keep up with the Diablo in our rickety 500, which wasn’t exactly easy. That came to mind when I arrived at the Monza circuit today.”

“Every day I’m amazed at what a fabulous brand Ferrari is – the logo, the colour, those timelessly beautiful cars! Ferrari has such a fabulous history; it’s unrivalled. And that takes me back to the F40. As a little lad, I had a model of it. I really have to pinch myself that I’m driving one today.”