Vasseur, Serra and an ex-mechanic are the points of reference
For Lewis Hamilton the Imola weekend can only be special given that the seven-time world champion has never made a secret of the fact that he has Ayrton Senna as his inspiring ‘idol’. The Mercedes driver won in 2020, but then in 2021 he was unable to get the better of Max Verstappen, who confirmed himself as winner in 2022.
This year, after the cancellation of the 2023 edition due to the flood, the Circus returns to the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack in Imola, but the performance of the Mercedes W15 does not allow Hamilton to cradle dreams of glory. The English driver, in any case, will experience his first weekend in Italy as a Ferrari driver ‘in progress’ given that in 2025 Hamilton will be at the wheel of the Red.
In the press conference, Hamilton underlined that it will be easier for him to acclimatise to Ferrari compared to what happened after the move from McLaren to Mercedes. “At Mercedes when I arrived I didn’t know anyone – explained the seven-time world champion – in Ferrari instead I will find Loic Serra with whom he worked a lot in Mercedes and then, naturally, there will be Fred with whom I raced and won in GP2. Also, my ex-mechanic number 2 works at Ferrari now.”. The Ferrari mentality will certainly be different from the Anglo-Saxon one and yet to be discovered by Hamilton, who will however have important points of reference that can facilitate his acclimatization in red. The field factor in favor of Charles Leclerc, therefore, may not be so impactful in what will be the duel between the two as teammates at Ferrari.
