Lewis Hamilton’s surprise decision to quit Mercedes and join Ferrari at the end of the upcoming F1 season was greeted with joy in the Italian media on Friday.
Still basking in Jannik Sinner’s win at the Australian Open, Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was hailed as a “world-wide coup” by daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi told the paper: “The team that made the history of auto racing unites with a great champion… with the hope that each race will be an electric competition and that overall interest will increase. I am,” he wrote.
La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy’s biggest sports newspaper, devoted nine pages to Hamilton and Ferrari on Friday, a huge amount for a publication where soccer dominates its coverage.
But even Sunday’s huge Serie A clash between Inter Milan and Juventus could not keep Hamilton out of the main headlines as the famous pink sports daily welcomed the seven-time world champion to Italy. Ta.
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Gazzetta said this is especially true because Ferrari, which has not won the F1 Drivers’ Championship since 2007 and the Constructors’ Championship since 2008, now needs to offer him “the perfect car to make history”. He described the transfer as a “gamble.”
Hamilton is aiming to win his eighth title, surpassing F1 icon Michael Schumacher, who won five consecutive titles with Ferrari between 2000 and 2004.
Gazzetta also highlighted how Hamilton’s move could cause problems for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc recently signing a long-term deal with the Scuderia.
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Turin-based daily La Stampa spoke to Riccardo Ceccarelli, founder of the Formula Medicine Training Center, which works with Leclerc.
“Lewis doesn’t look his age. He still has a long career ahead of him,” Ceccarelli said.
“In motorsport you often think reaction time and reflexes are the most important thing, but motivation is even more important and Hamilton is extremely motivated.”
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