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‘Also mine’ – Hamilton makes Schumacher admission as Ferrari tribute takes on new meaning Wearing a one-off Ferrari T-shirt with seven stars across the shoulders in tribute to Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton says he feels like it is “also mine” as he too has seven titles. Ferrari is paying tribute to Schumacher, who won five of his seven titles with the Scuderia, at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, 30 years after his debut season with the team. Lewis Hamilton explains Ferrari tribute to Michael Schumacher The German joined the team in 1996 and claimed 72 of his 91 Grand Prix victories for Ferrari. In 2000, he ended the Scuderia’s 21-year wait for a Drivers’ title with his first in a run of five that cemented his place in Ferrari’s history. Ferrari is honouring the 57-year-old at Monza with a special livery. While the SF-26 will feature Schumacher’s personal ‘MS’ logo motif and carry the seven stars worn on Schumacher’s helmets, the drivers’ kit has also been tweaked. Hamilton arrived at Thursday’s FIA press conference wearing the tribute T-shirt with its seven stars across the shoulders. The Briton, though, says it felt like something more to him as he is the only driver in the sport’s history to have matched Schumacher’s seven titles. Asked about Ferrari’s Schumacher livery, he said: “I haven’t actually seen the livery, but I’m wearing a shirt with seven stars, which is quite fitting because I have seven stars too, so it feels alright. “So it feels like it’s also mine. “But I mean, it’s kind of crazy. Last year, we celebrated Niki [Lauda], who was a dear friend, and Michael. “For me, I grew up, I remember the happiest Sunday mornings when you heard the music, the old better music that they used to use for the start of Formula 1. “Was it The Chain? Yeah, so much better. “And you could hear it downstairs starting, and you knew okay, you get all excited, you run downstairs, and I just always remember seeing Michael in the red car, and I remember playing computer games and always being Michael in that Ferrari, and always just trying to imagine what it would feel like to be in his shoes. “I have the privilege of having that experience now. But I mean, he was such a leader. Obviously, he did such an amazing job throughout his career. And again, I had the privilege of racing in a moment where he was still racing and being on track with him, which meant a lot.” Hamilton, though, is not looking to Schumacher for inspiration on how to rebuild Ferrari into a championship-winning team. Instead, the Briton says he’s drawing on his past experience of winning titles with Mercedes to shape Ferrari. Go deeper: Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari contract F1 driver contracts: What is the contract status of every driver on the F1 2026 grid? F1 2027 driver line-up: Which drivers are already confirmed for the 2027 grid? “I haven’t taken a page out of Michael’s book in this in that sense. I think, obviously, I wasn’t here in the team when there was a big narrative of Michael turning the team round. “But ultimately, it’s a combination of many, many people, and there’s no I in team. I see it’s kind of like it’s a huge ship and it’s the driver’s job to work alongside the head figures to try and steer it in the right direction. “I think the positive thing, the opportunistic thing, for a new driver coming in with experience, who has experience to different teams. When you’re in it, it’s sometimes hard to see through see the wood from the trees. “It’s when someone comes in, even if new engineers come in from different places, straight away they say, ‘Oh, we did this differently’. And not necessarily that’s a better way, but it’s just different approaches. “It’s kind of quite phenomenal, really, if you think that all these teams have the same rules, they do everything differently to get to the same sort of, and then the cars on track are within a tenth. It’s quite phenomenal, and that’s really what makes our sport so great. “I think, for me, I pushed for a lot of changes within the car, which last year we couldn’t do one because of cap, two because it’s what they’ve done all the time, and it’s like, why should we change it? And so it took a lot of persuading to get some of those changes done. And then some of them were expensive, and they took a longer process. “So I worked in the sim and requested that they design it for the sim, and I tested in the sim last year, and then they added it as options for the car that we use every weekend. “And yeah, so just kind of the whole the whole goal was looking, coming from an outside perspective, looking at all the things they do well, and nobody does everything perfect. “Highlighting the things that are maybe good or not as good, and say, hey, we need to level up in all these areas, and that’s what I try to do. “I think Fred even said there was some things on the list that he just couldn’t do because it’s too expensive. But I’m grateful for the ones that he has allowed to happen, and I feel proud to see the progress that we made.” Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists. 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