Lewis Hamilton discusses ‘amazing picture’ of him with Ferrari star Charles Leclerc and Frederic Vasseur

Lewis Hamilton commented on a special edited picture of him with Charles Leclerc that a fan displayed at Imola earlier this season. The picture featured Hamilton, Leclerc, and Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur.

Earlier this season during F1's first trip to Italy for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, an oddly familiar picture became a social media sensation. The edited image depicted Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc as Biblical characters (Jesus Christ and Mother Mary). It also featured Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur as the Pope.

Recently, Hamilton referred to the image while speaking with the media at Monza. He asked Leclerc:

"In Imola there was this amazing picture of me, you and Fred. Did you see it?"

Leclerc replied:

"As Saints?" before laughing.

The seven-time F1 champion will move to Ferrari in the 2025 F1 season. The image with Leclerc and Vasseur depicts the team's lineup for the season. Carlos Sainz, who has raced for the Italian outfit since the 2021 season will move to Williams Racing to partner Alex Albon.

Heading towards the second race of the season in Italy at Monza, Hamilton mentioned that this Grand Prix feels "different."

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Lewis Hamilton on racing in Monza: "It definitely does feel a little bit different"

The asphalt of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, host of the Italian Grand Prix, has been resurfaced this season. It is set to provide the drivers with a different challenge as the track temperatures will affect the expected life of the tires.

Speaking to the media during a press conference on Thursday, Lewis Hamilton mentioned that the race's timing fits well with the weather.

"I'm not going to lie, it definitely does feel a little bit different. It always feels special when you come here," Hamilton said. "We're coming here at a decent time in terms of, the weather's incredible today, obviously the huge changes they've made to the track. There's always such incredible passion throughout Italy just in the culture in general, but particularly about racing."

"It's always exciting just to see the fans that we're going to see throughout the weekend, the passion and excitement that they really bring to this race is really not particularly matched in too many places."

Mercedes has been performing decently this season given its position at the start of the season. The team has managed to win three races so far. However, Monza could turn out to be a little difficult for Mercedes because of the fresh asphalt around the track, altering the strategies.