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Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will race SF-26s carrying a design inspired by the F310 Schumacher drove during his first Ferrari season in 1996. The predominantly red livery will feature white and black elements, while the wheels will carry a hint of gold in reference to the magnesium rims used on the F310. Schumacher’s personal logo, featuring the letters M and S shaped around the silhouette of a Formula 1 cockpit, will also appear on the car, while the nose will include a reference to the seven stars on his helmet, each representing one of his drivers’ championships. Both Leclerc and Hamilton will wear special helmets, race suits, gloves and shoes, with the wider Ferrari team also adopting commemorative clothing on Sunday. The tribute comes three decades after Schumacher arrived at Maranello as a two-time world champion and began an 11-season partnership that would become the most successful in Ferrari history. Schumacher claimed three victories during his maiden Ferrari campaign, breaking through with the team in Spain before winning again in Belgium and Italy. View this post on Instagram His Monza triumph was Ferrari’s first victory at its home grand prix since 1988 and began a remarkable relationship between Schumacher, the Scuderia and the tifosi. It was also the first of five Italian Grand Prix victories for Schumacher, all of which came with Ferrari. He returned to the top step at Monza in 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2006, leaving him tied with current Ferrari driver Hamilton for the most Italian Grand Prix wins with five. The 1996 campaign proved the starting point for an extraordinary Ferrari career in which Schumacher won 72 grands prix for the team and claimed five consecutive drivers’ championships between 2000 and 2004. His success helped transform Ferrari from a team searching for its first drivers’ title since 1979 into F1’s dominant force at the beginning of the century. Ferrari also won six consecutive constructors’ championships between 1999 and 2004 as Schumacher, alongside key figures throughout the organisation, helped establish the most successful period in the team’s history. Ferrari has called its Monza tribute “Sunday Rituals”, linking Schumacher’s achievements with the traditions surrounding the Scuderia and its supporters at its home grand prix. Three cars from Schumacher’s Ferrari career will also be displayed at Monza, including the F310 from 1996, the 248 F1 from his final season with the team in 2006 and the dominant F2002. Schumacher’s 2002 teammate Rubens Barrichello will drive the F2002 on Saturday, having won the 2002 Italian Grand Prix in the car during a season in which Ferrari claimed 15 victories from 17 races. Sebastian Vettel, who idolised his fellow German growing up before driving for Ferrari between 2015 and 2020, will then take the F2002 onto the circuit for a commemorative lap ahead of Sunday’s grand prix. The Schumacher design continues Ferrari’s recent tradition of adopting special liveries for its home event at Monza. Ferrari introduced yellow and black detailing in 2022 to mark its 75th anniversary and the centenary of the Monza circuit, before celebrating its Le Mans success the following year with a design inspired by the 499P Hypercar. After keeping its standard car livery in 2024 despite introducing special race suits, Ferrari revived the tradition last year with a retro 312T-inspired look celebrating 50 years since Niki Lauda won his first F1 world championship. Ferrari heads into its home grand prix second in the constructors’ championship, 87 points behind Mercedes.