Lewis Hamilton causes ‘state of emergency’ announcement by Maranello mayor | F1 | Sport

Maranello mayor Luigi Zironi reportedly declared a ‘state of emergency’ after fans flooded the small Italian town for Lewis Hamilton’s arrival. The legendary Brit enjoyed his first day as a driver for the Scuderia on Monday.

Hamilton arrived at Ferrari’s factory in Maranello under the cover of darkness on Monday, but fans flocked to get a glimpse of the seven-time world champion, who later came out of the facility and signed some memorabilia and greeted his supporters.

The intense increase in visiting supporters put a strain on local services, and according to a report from F1-Insider, local mayor Zironi was forced to call a ‘state of emergency’ bringing in additional police forces from the surrounding communities and towns to help ‘regulate traffic’ and manage the flow of fans.

Hamilton’s arrival is a significant moment for the Tifosi, and when he takes to the grid in Melbourne in March, he will become the first British driver to race for the legendary Italian constructor full-time (Oliver Bearman made a one-off appearance in 2024) since Eddie Irvine in 1999.

Celebrating his arrival, Hamilton posted a picture to Instagram of himself standing outside of Maranello, dressed in a striking black suit and trench coat, in front of a Ferrari F40 – his favourite supercar from the Italian manufacturer.

He captioned the post: “There are some days that you know you’ll remember forever and today, my first as a Ferrari driver, is one of those days. I’ve been lucky enough to have achieved things in my career I never thought possible, but part of me has always held on to that dream of racing in red.

“I couldn’t be happier to realise that dream today. Today we start a new era in the history of this iconic team, and I can’t wait to see what story we will write together.”

As explained by The Race, Hamilton’s first day with his new team was a busy one. The 40-year-old started by meeting team principal Fred Vasseur and CEO Benedetto Vigna in the square before returning to Maranello to meet Piero Ferrari, son of company founder Enzo.

After that, Hamilton went on to meet his new colleagues, touring the departments at Maranello and even linking up with new race engineer Riccardo Adami, who previously worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz.

When the early onboarding is complete, Hamilton will enjoy his first track time later this week. The former Mercedes man is facing an aggressive TPC (testing of previous cars) programme to get him up to scratch with Ferrari machinery before pre-season testing in Bahrain.