Lewis Hamilton’s biggest Monza moments ahead of Ferrari debut at the Temple of Speed

Despite having more than a year under his belt with Ferrari by now, Hamilton admitted: ”I still have to pinch myself” ahead of his debut at the iconic ‘Temple of Speed’ as a member of Italy’s most famous racing team.

Lewis Hamilton will serve grid penalty at Monza

Even with all the anticipation around his first drive at Monza with Ferrari, Hamilton comes into this weekend facing a five-place grid drop.

The penalty stems from an incident during the formation lap at Zandvoort when he failed to slow down under double-waved yellow flags. This rule violation was flagged by F1 stewards right after qualifying had finished.

Lewis Hamilton still owns a stunning speed record at Monza

Hamilton set the fastest lap in Formula 1 history during qualifying at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, with an impressive time of 1:18.887, giving him an average speed of 164.267 mph around the lap.

Hamilton achieved this feat in the Mercedes F1 W11 EQ Performance, a car that was dominant throughout the season. He won 10 out of 17 races that year, while his teammate Valtteri Bottas added five more wins to Mercedes’ total.

Kimi Raikkonen held the previous record with a time of 1:19.119 set in a Ferrari back in 2018. Hamilton’s mark not only broke that but also demonstrated just how strong Mercedes were during that period.

The lap time still stands as Monza’s benchmark going into the upcoming race weekend, and while there’s always a chance it could be beaten this year, it won’t be easy given current car performance and track conditions.