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‘Not seen that in 25 years’ – Awestruck fans treat Lewis Hamilton like Michael Schumacher as they abandon plans in order to witness history
Rome’s Colosseum, the leaning tower of Pisa, the Duomo di Milano… and a bike path in Maranello?! Italy isn’t exactly low on tourist attractions, but thanks to Lewis Hamilton it was an unexpected location that people travelled the world over to brave in the morning cold. Fans waited hours to see Hamilton in red and got their rewardGetty Ferrari fans dropped their plans to go and see HamiltonGetty Two days after his unveiling as a Ferrari driver, the seven-time world champion took to the Fiorano Modenese test track in red for the first time and was met with some incredible support. Fans of the Scuderia regularly attend the first laps of the season, but this was incomparable, as Mario Salvini from La Gazzetta dello Sport told talkSPORT. “We were waiting since yesterday morning on the bridge, the only point on the street where you can have a look at the track,” he began. “It’s a tradition when the season begins. “A lot of people told me they’ve never seen anything like it, maybe the last years of Michael Schumacher after three or four world championships with Ferrari but for sure, in the last 25 years nobody has seen anything like this. “There were maybe 1000 people or more on that bridge, some of them were there from very early in the morning, someone since 5.30 in the morning, but the exit time [when the car came out] was 9.16.” Ferrari are used to stars as the most legendary team in motorsport, but signing the most successful driver in Formula 1 history is certainly something new. Arriving with seven titles, the same record number Schumacher left with, there’s hope his eighth and the team’s first since 2007 could be on the way. Stats aside, Hamilton is still the biggest attraction in the sport thanks to his celebrity, as Salvini explained. Comparing him to a four-time champion who arrived in 2015, he said: “For sure it’s much bigger than Sebastian Vettel, I don’t know exactly what happened when Schumacher started. “The first laps season after season were maybe comparable, but the first season probably not, he had two championships, Hamilton has seven and he’s the most successful driver in Formula 1 history. Even Hamilton’s mum was taking photos on her phoneGetty “Yesterday there was a mum and daughter from Hungary and they came for the Ferrari museum but they didn’t go, they’d booked but they were on the bridge the whole day and didn’t see Lewis. “Today I saw three girls from Indonesia and they told me it’s a once in a lifetime occasion, it’s historic to see the first day of Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari.” Salvini also added an extra tidbit, that Hamilton’s classy suit won over even more fans. “It’s already historical and the picture is already a story, lots of things to with Lewis can become stories,” he said. “I think it’s the same outfit as when he became a Sir, so he was saying ‘I give the same importance to Ferrari as I gave to Buckingham Palace’.”
Rome’s Colosseum, the leaning tower of Pisa, the Duomo di Milano… and a bike path in Maranello?!
Italy isn’t exactly low on tourist attractions, but thanks to Lewis Hamilton it was an unexpected location that people travelled the world over to brave in the morning cold.
Two days after his unveiling as a Ferrari driver, the seven-time world champion took to the Fiorano Modenese test track in red for the first time and was met with some incredible support.
Fans of the Scuderia regularly attend the first laps of the season, but this was incomparable, as Mario Salvini from La Gazzetta dello Sport told talkSPORT.
“We were waiting since yesterday morning on the bridge, the only point on the street where you can have a look at the track,” he began. “It’s a tradition when the season begins.
“A lot of people told me they’ve never seen anything like it, maybe the last years of Michael Schumacher after three or four world championships with Ferrari but for sure, in the last 25 years nobody has seen anything like this.
“There were maybe 1000 people or more on that bridge, some of them were there from very early in the morning, someone since 5.30 in the morning, but the exit time [when the car came out] was 9.16.”
Ferrari are used to stars as the most legendary team in motorsport, but signing the most successful driver in Formula 1 history is certainly something new.
Arriving with seven titles, the same record number Schumacher left with, there’s hope his eighth and the team’s first since 2007 could be on the way.
Stats aside, Hamilton is still the biggest attraction in the sport thanks to his celebrity, as Salvini explained.
Comparing him to a four-time champion who arrived in 2015, he said: “For sure it’s much bigger than Sebastian Vettel, I don’t know exactly what happened when Schumacher started.
“The first laps season after season were maybe comparable, but the first season probably not, he had two championships, Hamilton has seven and he’s the most successful driver in Formula 1 history.
“Yesterday there was a mum and daughter from Hungary and they came for the Ferrari museum but they didn’t go, they’d booked but they were on the bridge the whole day and didn’t see Lewis.
“Today I saw three girls from Indonesia and they told me it’s a once in a lifetime occasion, it’s historic to see the first day of Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari.”
Salvini also added an extra tidbit, that Hamilton’s classy suit won over even more fans.
“It’s already historical and the picture is already a story, lots of things to with Lewis can become stories,” he said.
“I think it’s the same outfit as when he became a Sir, so he was saying ‘I give the same importance to Ferrari as I gave to Buckingham Palace’.”
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