“I Have Never Seen So Many People”: Italian Journalist Reacts to Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari Arrival

With Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Maranello, it seems Ferrari’s new era has gotten off to a glittering start. Thousands gathered at Fiorano to catch a glimpse of Hamilton in red overalls, and neither he nor the team could have asked for a better way to generate hype.

Many had predicted a huge crowd to watch Hamilton‘s first test in Ferrari’s car on Wednesday, but Mara Sangiorgio, an Italian journalist, was still left in disbelief. “In thirteen years I have never seen so many people for the debut of a driver in Fiorano,” she told Sky Sports Italy.

The buzz surrounding Hamilton’s arrival began when he posted a picture of himself beside a Ferrari F40 outside Enzo Ferrari’s house on Monday. The post broke the record for the most-liked F1-related Instagram post of all time, with over 5 million likes at the time of writing.

The excitement continued into the first test, with thousands gathering outside the private test track, despite cold and misty weather conditions.

Hamilton began his test at 9:16 AM local time (3:16 AM ET), and fans were there from the start, cheering every time he passed them on track. Ferrari also made the most of the hype surrounding Hamilton’s test, posting several pictures and videos of him driving the SF-23, the team’s 2023 car.

Ferrari ensure to make the most of Hamilton’s fandom

With over 38.8 million followers on Instagram alone, Hamilton is undoubtedly one of the most popular F1 drivers, and as such, his first few days at Ferrari were bound to be closely tracked. Ferrari, knowing this, made sure to capitalize on his fanbase by keeping fans up to date with pictures and videos of everything he did during his first few days at Maranello.

The Briton’s arrival at Ferrari began with him receiving a tour of the Maranello headquarters and meeting his team members, including executive chairman John Elkann and team principal Fred Vasseur.

The 40-year-old also took a close look at some of the team’s historic cars, all to get acquainted with Ferrari’s culture and legacy.

This was bound to attract immense fan attention and the same is evident, with several of Ferrari’s Instagram posts crossing over a million likes.

For example, Hamilton’s “first time in RED” picture has already received over 3.7 million likes within a day of posting, while his first lap in a Ferrari has received over a million likes within just three hours of posting.