Lewis Hamilton bid goodbye to Monza as a Mercedes driver for possibly the last time, as he is set to return to the “temple of speed” as a Ferrari man next year. The seven-time world champion signed a contract with the Prancing Horse earlier this year, and the Tifosi will see him in red overalls at the 2025 Italian Grand Prix.

Like every other driver, Hamilton always looks forward to winning at Monza, and on Sunday, he came home in P5. His last race win at this track arrived in 2018.

Hamilton bid goodbye for this year to one of the most iconic tracks in F1 with a post on X(formerly Twitter). With a series of pictures, the Briton wrote,

“Grazie Monza, til next year”

https://twitter.com/LewisHamilton/status/1830359431835791835?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1830359431835791835%7Ctwgr%5Efaa160e15993d8f9b10706e154f3537aa9e0143f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportskeeda.com%2Ff1%2Fnews-grazie-monza-til-next-year-lewis-hamilton-posts-social-media-looks-forward-return-italy-ferrari-driver

Sunday’s race at Monza was an eventful one, and certainly a memorable one for the Tifosi. Charles Leclerc claimed a victory at Ferrari’s home ground for the first time in five years, having won it last for the team in 2019. A strategic masterclass from the Italian team helped Leclerc pick up the race win ahead of McLaren and Mercedes.

Hamilton raced for the last 12 years with the Silver Arrows, claiming six of his seven F1 titles in his time at the team. Despite signing a contract extension with Mercedes in 2023, the Briton switched his alliances to Ferrari six months later.

Hamilton’s decision came as a shock to the motorsport world, and team principal Toto Wolff too was taken aback by the massive decision. As Hamilton leaves, he will see Kimi Antonelli take over as his successor next year.

“Monza feels a bit different” – Lewis Hamilton ahead of 2024 Italian GP

Ahead of the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton shared that Monza “always feels special.” He added that the passion and excitement the fans bring to the track were quite rare in the F1 circuit.

“I’m not going to lie, it definitely does feel a little bit different. I mean, it always feels special when you come here. We’re coming here at a decent time in terms of the weather’s incredible today, obviously the huge changes they’ve made to the track.

“But as Charles [Leclerc] was saying, there’s always such incredible passion throughout Italy, just in the culture in general but particularly about racing. It’s always exciting just to see the fans that we’re going to see throughout the weekend. The passion here and the excitement that they really bring to this race is really not particularly matched in too many places,” Hamilton said.

Lewis Hamilton reportedly signed a multi-year contract with the Maranello-based team worth $446 million. He will replace Williams-bound Carlos Sainz, and race alongside Charles Leclerc starting from 2025.