F1 legend Lewis Hamilton shows off his Italian by shouting at his 'neighbours'

Lewis Hamilton smiling at the Qatar Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

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Lewis Hamilton shows off his Italian by shouting at his 'neighbours'

Ferrari launched their SF-26 car on Friday

Chris Deeley

Sunday 25 January 2026 09:59

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His first season at Ferrari may not have gone exactly as planned, but it's impossible to deny that Lewis Hamilton has embraced F1's most passionate fanbase since his move last year.

Need a reminder of that? The seven-time world champion posted a video clip on his Instagram story this week captioned 'happy car launch day', and featuring him leaning out of a window and shouting to...it's hard to tell. Either some fans, or nobody.

'Buongiorno, vicini di casa!' is the cry – or, in English, 'good morning my neighbours!'

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While we could've translated that, we didn't need to, because Hamilton poked his head back in somewhat sheepishly, before heading back out to shout his greeting in his own language.

Smooth testing day for Ferrari

There's a little bit of speculation at GPFans Towers that Hamilton even gave his English words a little Italian-accented flourish, which would put him in some...mixed company.

Football fans will remember Steve 'Schteve' McClaren's faux-Dutch pronunciations when he went to manage FC Twente, so infamous that it's frequently the first thing referenced about him in casual conversation, as well as Joey Barton's absolutely baffling Marseille press conference, when he just...spoke English in the heavy French accent that he absolutely doesn't have. Odd man.

In the end, Friday's testing went about as smoothly as Hamilton and Ferrari could've hoped for, the team's drivers completing their mandated maximum combined 15km, performing a practice start and getting the new active aerodynamics up and running. All in all, a good day.

Well, mostly. There's a video online that seems to show Charles Leclerc stepping in some (dog?) poop. Maybe that's considered lucky in Monaco, though...?

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