As Ferrari rolled out a special livery and blue team kit in honour of Niki Lauda's first F1 world championship, Lewis Hamilton has opened up about his relationship with the late driver.
Speaking ahead of the Monza race, where the seven-time champion is aiming for a better result than the Dutch GP, Hamilton revealed the pep talk Lauda gave that he still carries to this day.
When asked if Lauda convinced him to join Mercedes in 2012, the 40-year-old shared that despite his admiration for the driver, the one who motivated him to join his former team was Ross Brawn.
Hamilton left McLaren for Mercedes in 2012, where he would ultimately secure six drivers' championships and eight consecutive constructors' championships from 2014 to 2021.
"And Niki and I had an amazing relationship," he continued. "So definitely when I joined Ferrari, I hadn't even thought of Niki having driven at Ferrari."
The Briton added, "It was literally just because, as a kid, I obviously watched Michael and was generally a really big fan of the team. And I just always looked at the response, the reaction from the crowd."
Hamilton admitted that Lauda's guidance is always with him, especially when he is having a hard time at the grid.
Recalling a quirky habit of the late driver, he shared, "And he would always say, 'give 'em hell', but he would always say the word 'a*******'".
"That was always his thing. And I remember the beginning, I never understood. I was like, 'what do you mean? You mean, give 'em hell?' And he's like, 'no, give him a*******!' But yeah, he was just such a fighter."
Moreover, Lewis Hamilton has opened up about the "hardcore" punishment that has rocked his Italian Grand Prix debut for Ferrari.
The FIA stewards gave the British driver a five-place grid penalty for failing to slowe down his speed enough for yellow flags during the laps before the Dutch Grand Prix.
"To get the penalty and (two) penalty points on my licence was pretty hardcore. But I learned from it and there's no point whinging about it," Hamilton noted.
Currently, Lewis Hamilton is standing at sixth position in the F1 drivers' rank with 109 points, exactly 200 points difference from the lead driver, Oscar Piastri.
