Lewis Hamilton may still be on probation with Ferrari, but the most successful driver in Formula 1 history already wants to make his mark on the Maranello brand’s road car business.
Despite only recently leaving Mercedes-AMG’s F1 team after 12 seasons, Hamilton wants to make a new Ferrari supercar, using the iconic F40 from the late 1980s as inspiration.
“One of the things I really want to do is I want to design a Ferrari. I want to do an F44,” Hamilton told Motorsport.com, referencing his racing number #44.
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“Baseline of an F40, with the actual stick shift. That’s what I’m gonna work on for the next few years.”
In January, Hamilton spent part of his first day with Ferrari taking part in a photoshoot in Maranello, with one of the most iconic photos being of him standing in front of an F40 and Enzo Ferrari’s house.
The F40 has been described as his “favourite supercar” – a big claim, given the extensive collection he once held – though it’s understood he doesn’t actually own one of the circa-1315 examples built, despite fellow F1 star Lando Norris having one in his garage.
Despite being almost 40 years old, the Ferrari F40’s performance credentials still make it quick by today’s standards, with its 352kW twin-turbo 2.9-litre V8 engine, manual transmission and sub-1300kg kerb weight making it a raw car to drive.
Though it didn’t have as direct of a link to Formula 1 as the later F50 – which adopted its V12 from the contemporary Ferrari F1 cars – it’s revered as one of the Italian brand’s greatest supercars.
Unfortunately, given the F44 is no closer to reality than an eighth world title for Hamilton at the moment, we don’t yet know what it could take shape as, and what would power it.
It’s been a long time since Ferrari made a manual car, having deleted the option of three pedals in the California grand tourer in 2011. The year prior it ended production of the F430, its last supercar available as a manual.
Since then, it’s moved to dual-clutch automatics, but persuasion from the 105-time Grand Prix winner could be motivation enough for Ferrari to bring back the manual.
