In January, we reported on why Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari deal goes way beyond Formula 1, and you can read that report here. Two months later, it appears that we might have just witnessed how that could materialize in the form of him putting his design efforts into a new ‘F44’ supercar, based on the legendary F40 from the mid-1980s…
Motorsport.com quotes Hamilton, who races with the number 44 in F1, as saying this in Australia: “One of the things I really want to do is I want to design a Ferrari. I want to do an F44. Baseline of an F40, with the actual stick shift. That’s what I’m gonna work on for the next few years.”
The Ferrari F40 was the last road car approved by Enzo Ferrari, before his death in 1988, and it was based on Formula 1 technology of the time. Although over 1,300 examples were produced, its reputation as one of the greatest analogue supercars of all time has led to prices rocketing to between $1.5-3 million, and fellow F1 driver and current world championship leader Lando Norris owns one.
It’s not clear exactly when Hamilton said this, potentially at a public event rather than a press conference, as Melbourne hosted the Australian Grand Prix earlier this month. But it’s worth pointing out that on his first official day at Ferrari, the seven-times world champion posed next to the V8-powered F40 outside Enzo Ferrari’s office building at its Fiorano test track. Was this a clue to what’s coming next?
Hamilton has a strong Ferrari-owning history, buying a 599 GTO in 2010, before replacing it with a 599 SA Aperta. His collection includes both a LaFerrari, in which he was famously spotted driving around Beverley Hills with Justin Bieber, and an incredible LaFerrari Aperta.
Hamilton had been linked with being involved in a special edition of the AMG One when he was at the Mercedes F1 team, but nothing came to pass. Last year, Top Gear Magazine suggested that Ferrari was considering another addition to its ultra-exclusive “Icona” series, alongside the Monza SP1/SP2 and Daytona SP3, and that the LaFerrari would be reimagined somehow. But perhaps this is the project it could next have in mind…
Not only does Hamilton, who won the sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend, bring his undoubted driving skills to Maranello, but he brings a huge profile and following. Knighted by the British royal family, his global appeal – comparable with fellow gigastars Tiger Woods and LeBron James – has appealed to a far broader audience than F1 fans, and he’s also become a prominent activist for increased diversity and social justice.
His interests in fashion and music have also increased his influence outside of the cockpit, and his philanthropism and charity work means Ferrari is not only getting one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time but a genuine icon with mass appeal.
As Lamborghini goes from strength to strength, in the American market in particular, perhaps Ferrari could take advantage of its F1 legend by putting his name to its next iconic supercar to put its Italian rival in the shade.
Source: Motorsport.com
