Ferrari will race at the Italian Grand Prix, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of Michael Schumacher joining the team, in a special design inspired by the German driver’s first Ferrari, the 1996 F310. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s cars will feature gold wheel details, Schumacher’s logo and 7 stars symbolizing his 7 championships. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari’s former driver with 4 world championships, will complete a demonstration lap on Sunday in Schumacher’s 2002 championship-winning car. His former teammate Rubens Barrichello will drive the car on Saturday. Hamilton and Leclerc will wear special race suits. Ferrari is targeting its third victory of the season following Hamilton’s win in Barcelona and Leclerc’s victory at Silverstone. Hamilton and George Russell are 59 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli. Antonelli is expected to receive a qualifying penalty due to the power unit limit.
Why it matters
This program is significant because Ferrari is commemorating the legacy of the Schumacher era not only with a visual tribute, but also by bringing together different figures from the team’s past around the same weekend. Vettel and Barrichello taking to the track in former Ferrari cars shows how Schumacher’s achievements have been preserved as a lasting reference in the team’s history. The commemorative events will also create a framework in which Hamilton and Leclerc’s current performances can be assessed alongside the championship-winning periods of the past. However, the sporting side of the weekend is not limited to Ferrari’s effort to secure its third victory of the season and the possibility of Hamilton and Russell reducing the points gap; how the expected qualifying penalty for Antonelli will affect the race order also stands out as an open question.