MONZA : Ferrari will race with a special livery and team kit at Monza this weekend to commemorate Michael Schumacher’s first Italian Grand Prix victory with the Formula One team and his decade at Maranello from 1996 to 2006.
This year marks 30 years since the seven-times world champion, then a two-time title winner, joined Ferrari from Benetton.
Schumacher’s arrival helped transform the Italian team and ushered in a golden era, with the German winning five successive drivers’ championships while Ferrari secured six consecutive constructors’ titles.
Schumacher, now 57, has not been seen in public since suffering a serious brain injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps in December 2013.
Ferrari said the SF-26 cars of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, also a seven-times world champion, would feature a livery inspired by Schumacher’s first Ferrari, the 310.
The predominantly red design will feature white wings, black detailing, seven stars and Schumacher’s logo incorporating the letters M and S.
Three cars from Schumacher’s Ferrari career will also be displayed at the circuit — the F310, the 248 from 2006 and the F2002, which he drove during one of the most dominant seasons in Formula One history.
The 2002 car will be driven by Schumacher’s former team mate Rubens Barrichello on Saturday and four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel on Sunday.
Schumacher’s 1996 victory at Monza was Ferrari’s first at its home race since 1988. The team returns this weekend with Leclerc and Hamilton having each won once this season, while Ferrari sit second in the constructors’ standings.
Ferrari last won at Monza in 2024 with Leclerc, who also triumphed in 2019. Hamilton, who joined Ferrari last year, is a five-time winner at Monza with McLaren and Mercedes.
Italian Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader for Mercedes, is set to start at the back of the grid after power unit changes triggered penalties.
