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Lewis Hamilton Wants New Bosses to Build a Ferrari F40 Successor
Seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Sir Lewis Hamilton has only just started his new role at Ferrari but he already has plans for an update of the legendary F40.
Speaking to Motorsport, Hamilton said he’d call it the F44—a reference to his long-standing racing number, and the Ferrari icon. Rather than follow Ferrari’s recent approach, which has seen names such as Daytona and Monza reappearing on cars built with the very latest technology, Hamilton says his car would be a return to the old school.
“One of the things I really want to do is I want to design a Ferrari. I want to do an F44,” he told Motorsport. “Baseline of an F40, with the actual stick shift. That’s what I’m gonna work on for the next few years.”
Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was marked in a viral Instagram post that saw him dressed in Godfather-style suit and overcoat next to an F40 with the caption, “There are some days that you know you’ll remember forever and today, my first as a Ferrari driver, is one of those days.”
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In its own day, the F40 used state-of-the art F1 techniques, employing a tubular steel spaceframe chassis clothed in composite panels of kevlar and carbon fiber. Proudly on display beneath the slotted plexiglass rear window was a 2.9-liter V-8 with a pair of notoriously laggy turbos that made the 470-hp F40 a challenge for even the most skilled drivers.
It’s that spirit Hamilton seems to be keen to recapture, but for Ferrari to build a car with no traction control, no anti-lock braking, or any other driver aids would be difficult given today’s safety regulations. Hopefully there’s still time for the F44 to come with pure combustion power, no added electrification, and the gated manual transmission that Hamilton yearns for.
Might worry more about winning a race and doing it legally.
Oh, how many F1 races have you won?
McLaren picked up where they left off last season. Head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Mercedes and Red Bull are the ones who podiumed. They both have work to do and having rookies might hurt them in the points but still. Both Ferraris were disqualified after the race in China. If Lewis was really serious about winning races he might concentrate on that rather than wanting Ferrari to build a ‘ tribute to me ‘ car when he has not yet delivered. Currently Leclerc looks like the better driver. So maybe the Ferrari Leclerc instead of a F- 44 might be more appropriate.
I don’t think Ferrari has the desire to build a back to basic supercar. It’s all about the electric tech integration now. F44, yeah that’s a no. He hasn’t earned it in Enzo’s house just yet.
Lewis does not have two first names; he will never truly qualify with the Ferrari / Pasta elite!!!
Bring back the manual transmissions
Sell the original body design to Corvette… bam! The perfect Corvette.
Agreed, but I fear GM would still find a way to screw something up…