“He too was surprised by the warmth”: Ferrari royalty opens up on Lewis Hamilton’s father’s reaction on his Italian reception

Piero Ferrari, the son of Enzo Ferrari and vice chairman of his father's company, recently spoke about Lewis Hamilton's father's reaction to the fans that had gathered at the Fiorano track for the driver's debut with the Italian team. Piero also spoke about Hamilton's extended family who had come to watch the 40-year-old on his first day with the Prancing Horses, driving their 2023 car at their track near Maranello. The VC revealed that Lewis' father, Anthony Hamilton, was surprised by the amount of people that had gathered to witness the testing session.

In an interview with Autosprint, Piero talked about Lewis Hamilton's first day with the team, his first impressions of the driver, their earlier meetings, as well as what the Brit brings to the table for the upcoming season. The billionaire part-owner of the Scarlet team also spoke about his interaction with the father of the seven-time world champion, who he described as a "nice guy".

"The whole extended family was there. I had a chat with his dad, a nice guy. He too was surprised by the warmth of those who had been waiting for Lewis at the edge of the track."

Lewis Hamilton's first testing session at the Fiorano track happened on January 22nd, and earlier this week, the driver was back in the car for a second testing session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. The driver suffered a crash during his second time driving the SF-23, but was unharmed. His next time testing for Ferrari will occur next week during the mandatory Pirelli tyre test, however, he will now be driving the SF-24, the team's 2024 challenger which secured five wins last year.

Hamilton will drive the team's 2025 car in Bahrain at the end of February in the pre-season testing session.

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Piero Ferrari discusses Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc rivalry in 2025

A fan holds cards with the faces of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc during Hamilton's first official days as a Scuderia Ferrari F1 driver - Source: Getty

In the interview with Autosprint, Piero Ferrari also discussed the upcoming competition between the team's two drivers, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. The 79-year-old's viewpoint is that the battle between the two of them is to be expected, while also being a conflict between two different generations.

The Ferrari VC also said that the fight between the two drivers would be beneficial for both of them:

"It's always been like this between teammates, it's part of the game. In Charles' case, there's also the generational issue that we're witnessing in tennis with [Jannik] Sinner and other kids: the freshness of the youngsters versus the experience and solidity of those who are many years older. I'm sure that the rivalry between Hamilton and Leclerc will be able to bring advantages to both of them."

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will compete against each other under the Ferrari banner at the first race of 2025 which takes place on March 16th in Melbourne, Australia.