Lewis Hamilton didn’t enjoy the best Italian Grand Prix at Monza for Ferrari. In fact, it was a hugely frustrating affair for both him and teammate Charles Leclerc, and a contentious one too. But he did at least make a grand entrance in his new Ferrari F40.
Hamilton revealed ahead of the weekend that he had recently bought a Ferrari F40, one of his dream cars. This particular one he’d spent months tracking down, and it had been left abandoned by its previous owner until the F1 driver was able to purchase it.
The Ferrari F1 driver rocked up to Monza in style ahead of the on-track action. Wearing a tailored suit and classy overcoat, the F1 ace really did look the part as he climbed out of the car, which he had already given the license plate ’44’. That is, of course, Hamilton’s F1 race number.
However, there was something else that made this Ferrari extra special. There was the story behind the car itself, how Hamilton came to find it, and why he chose this specific one. But there was also the fact that the engine was stamped with the very same number he races with.
Hamilton Buying This Ferrari F40 Felt Like Fate
View this post on Instagram
It turned out that after Ferrari’s technicians pulled the 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine out of the car to restore it, they spotted something incredible. The number 44 was stamped onto the engine block itself. That was an amazing coincidence, and one that Hamilton felt was “fate” when he discussed the car at the Italian Grand Prix venue.
Hamilton has raced with the number 44 since F1 allowed drivers to pick their own race numbers in 2014. He even wore it when he was defending his F1 titles in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. The Briton hasn’t raced with the number one, reserved for the driver who won the title the previous year, since 2009, after he won his first championship with McLaren in 2008. The number 44 was also Hamilton’s during his karting days, so it has an extra special meaning for him.
Hamilton actually had specific requirements for his Ferrari F40. He had spent several months trying to find the perfect example, and he believed he had found it in this one. The F1 driver wanted the most authentic F40 he could find, with as low mileage as possible and a story behind it that was worth telling. In short, Hamilton wanted as original a supercar as he could possibly find. That was a tall order, but it was something Hamilton and his team were able to pull off.
Lewis Hamilton Got the F40 of His Dreams
The car that the F1 champion chose was only driven for about 42.9 miles by its previous owner, from the Maranello factory to the owner’s home. After it was parked, the engine was never started again, and it sat hidden away for over three decades. It was only after Hamilton bought the supercar that it was able to see the light of day again.
Hamilton didn’t want it preserved as a static showpiece either. He decided to have Ferrari fully restore the car mechanically and tidy it up cosmetically. Now, he has an amazing piece of automotive history, just how he wanted. The fact that he found a car that had the low mileage he craved, and with such a cool story behind it, is an amazing tale itself. The icing on the cake really is the fact that the car has his race number stamped on the back of the engine block. That is the coolest coincidence of them all.