Lewis Hamilton Arrives at Monza in a Restored Ferrari F40

Lewis Hamilton has never been shy about an entrance, but at Monza he raised the bar even by his own standards.

On Thursday, ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, the seven-time world champion rolled into the paddock not in a team SUV or discreet hire car, but at the wheel of a pristine Ferrari F40 – his own, freshly restored, and already the talk of the pit lane.

Wearing a sharp black suit under a tan overcoat, Hamilton cut a figure straight out of a magazine shoot as he guided the scarlet icon through the paddock traffic. The car, carrying a personalised number plate bearing his trademark 44, instantly drew phones, cameras and a growing crowd of team personnel and fans leaning over the barriers for a closer look.

This wasn’t a publicity stunt cooked up overnight. It was the culmination of a long pursuit. Hamilton recently acquired the F40 after a painstaking restoration project, a move that came after he famously sold his entire car collection in 2025. For a man who had stepped away from hoarding supercars, this one was the exception that broke the rule.

The story of the car only adds to its aura. Hamilton’s F40 had spent more than three decades hidden away in a garage, left to gather dust while the world moved on. Ferrari’s specialists in Maranello then set about reviving it, working for weeks to bring the twin-turbo legend back to life before it finally joined its new owner.

Ferrari built just 1,311 F40s between 1987 and 1992. Today, they command prices in the region of $3 million, a figure that underlines both their rarity and their status as one of the most coveted supercars ever made. To turn up at Monza in one, as a Ferrari driver, is as much a statement of identity as it is of wealth.

For Hamilton, it runs deeper than that. He has called owning an F40 the fulfilment of a lifelong dream, describing it as the car he has wanted for as long as he can remember. When he joined Ferrari last year, he made sure this very car was with him on his first day at Maranello, a personal symbol of what the move meant to him.

Last season, Hamilton made headlines at the same venue by arriving for qualifying on a tricolore Ducati, leaning into Italian racing culture with a flourish. This year’s choice of transport feels even more pointed: a Ferrari icon at Ferrari’s temple, driven by Ferrari’s new superstar.

Now comes the part that really matters to the Tifosi. With Ferrari chasing another home victory at Monza – their last came in 2024 courtesy of Charles Leclerc – Hamilton’s arrival has set the stage. The style is already there. The question, as the weekend begins, is whether he can match it with substance on the track.