Lewis Hamilton arrived at Monza in a Ferrari F40 with the number 44 on the engine block
Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton arrived at the Monza paddock on Thursday in a Ferrari F40, which he said he had been searching for for several months. The car's front license plate bore the number 44 — Hamilton's racing number in Formula 1.
The number on the engine block
As Motor1 reports, while restoring the car, Ferrari specialists in Maranello dismantled the engine and found the number 44 marked on its block. Hamilton called this coincidence fate.
The driver had called the Ferrari F40 his dream car and was looking for the most authentic example possible, with low mileage and its own history. The previous owner drove the car 69 kilometers from Maranello to his home and then did not start the engine for more than three decades.
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Restoration of the car
Instead of keeping the car as a collector's exhibit, Hamilton insisted on a full mechanical restoration. Ferrari technicians in Maranello carried out the work to return the Ferrari F40 to operational condition before the car arrived in Monza.
Hamilton arrived at the paddock wearing a suit, tie, hat and coat. According to him, this style of appearance was a tribute to motorsport. Ferrari produced the F40 in the late 1980s as a lightweight twin-turbo V8 supercar dedicated to the brand's 40th anniversary.
Hamilton referred to the marking on the block as “engine number 44,” but available reports do not confirm that it was specifically the 44th Ferrari F40 engine produced by the company.
