Hamilton dreams of first podium with Ferrari in Imola

Ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton insisted that while he has "no idea" about how competitive his SF25 will be in Imola, he dreams of a podium finish on the home turf for the Scuderia.

Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes at the end of previous season to join Ferrari for 2025. The seven-time F1 champion suffered a rocky start to the current season, having struggled for pace in Australia.

However, the Briton went on to secure pole position for the Shanghai sprint before dominating the 19-lap race. The following Suzuka round turned out to be a difficult weekend for Hamilton as he struggled for pace in qualifying while he also suffered from higher tyre degradation than his direct rivals experienced.

The 40-year-old then appeared to be more comfortable in his SF-25 in Bahrain, but he failed to put a good lap together in the last qualifying segment, ending up only ninth on the grid. However, he finally displayed encouraging race pace at the Bahrain Grand Prix, pursuing an offset strategy to move up to grid to a fifth-place finish thanks to a series of brilliant overtaking manoeuvres.

Although Ferrari struggled for pace last time out in Miami, the seven-time F1 champion displayed a clear step forward both in qualifying trim and in race trim, showing a more promising pace in all conditions and delivering an improved tyre management.

Speaking ahead of the Imola weekend, Hamilton said: “I just feel like I’m at another race, but it’s obviously a very special race for us as a team. I guess it’ll be different once I’m on track in the red car on the homeland of the team.

“It’ll probably become more of a realisation through the weekend, but I’m coming to work – work as usual, business as usual – and I’m just super focused, so I’ve not had time to think about it.

“Of course, when I see the Tifosi, when I see people in the crowds, it probably will become more of a realisation that they’re actually looking at me this time as opposed to me out in a different car. I have no idea; I don’t know what to expect. That’s obviously what we’re working towards, but it’s not something I expect this weekend.

Pushed on to reveal what he expects from this weekend, the seven-time F1 champion refused to offer a real answer, claiming that the last weekends showed unexpected fluctuation in performance.

“If you’ve seen our past races, the positions we’ve been in, we start the weekend really optimistic and then [there’s] the realisation of our true pace. I don’t know what the pace is going to be like this weekend.

“I’m hoping we’re able to extract more from the car, and that’s what we’ve been working towards this past two weeks. To get a good result, to get finally on the podium for Ferrari, that would be a first for me.

As for his emotional first race with Ferrari on home turf, Hamilton said: “To look down and see the team, who for my whole career I’ve always watched… whether I’m on the podium or from the side watching on TV, you can see the passion and how much it means to not only the people in the team, but also to the Tifosi... that’s what I dream about, what I’m working towards.”