Fred Vasseur ‘surprised’ by how Ferrari fans reacted to Lewis Hamilton at the Italian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton staged a strong recovery at the Italian Grand Prix to score solid points for Ferrari on his debut in red in front of the Monza crowd.

The Briton was handed a five-place grid penalty at the Dutch Grand Prix for a double-waved yellow flag infringement before the race.

Fortunately, it didn’t ruin his Monza on Sunday as Ferrari didn’t really have the pace to challenge McLaren, let alone Max Verstappen at the front of the field.

But Hamilton might have been able to finish ahead of his teammate if he hadn’t been subject to a grid drop.

Hamilton is now feeling positive ‘in his mind’ and has turned a new page in his season as Formula 1 prepares to leave Europe behind.

Immediately after crossing the line, Ferrari fans will love Hamilton’s radio message, which showed how much it meant to him to score points on their home turf. He still has the energy to compete for them.

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton names the most ‘unbelievable’ part of Italian Grand Prix after superb Monza comeback

Fred Vasseur left ‘surprised’ by Ferrari fans’ positive reaction to Lewis Hamilton at the Italian Grand Prix

After qualifying, Hamilton apologised to Ferrari in an unheard radio message where he was audibly frustrated by his lack of pace.

However, it doesn’t appear to have had much of an effect on the Tifosi, who remain right behind him, according to Brazilian journalist Julianne Cerasoli.

“It was just full-on support and for Lewis, he said something that he had a conversation with a fan,” she told the F1 Nation podcast. “And a fan maybe just walking alongside him and said, ‘Just remember who you [Hamilton] are, just remember who you are.’

“And he said that was in his mind for the whole weekend, ‘I am Lewis Hamilton.’ So, they are really behind him and they are giving especially him time to develop and time to work. When we read on social media or in [the] Italian media, it doesn’t look like that’s the case, but that’s what I’ve seen here this weekend.

“I spoke with a lot of Tifosi, and they are 100% behind him. 100% even, I was speaking to Fred earlier, and he was saying that he was surprised. He thought there would be a bit more criticism, a bit more ‘Oh, you’re Ferrari, you have to do better.'”

READ MORE: Natalie Pinkham reveals whether Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc received louder cheers from Ferrari fans at Monza

How Lewis Hamilton thanked his Ferrari team after the Italian Grand Prix

Even though Hamilton has been dealing with an ‘old Mercedes problem’, his team have refused to elaborate any further in public.

Ferrari have always been one of the more secretive teams, and they’re currently working as hard and fast as they can at preparing a title-winning car for 2026.

It’s why their situation is unlikely to improve for the rest of 2025, but it didn’t prevent Hamilton from thanking his team over the radio following the race in Monza.

“Yeah, great job this weekend, guys, solid result, sorry I couldn’t get further up, but I gave it everything,” he said. “Mega effort in the pit stops, guys, really appreciate your hard work.”