A little over a month after revealing the incredible story of her Ferrari F40 After sitting idle for more than three decades, Lewis Hamilton is now showing off much more of it. In a new video titled «Restoring My F40,» released on October 6, the Ferrari driver recounts the entire journey: from his search for a truly special example to its restoration in Maranello, including a rather incredible discovery related to his number 44.
He was looking for an F40 with «a special history»
It all actually began with that famous photograph from January 2025. On his first day at Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton wanted to pose in front of Enzo Ferrari’s house with a red F40. «It’s just such an iconic car. One of the most iconic cars of all time,» he explains today.
But Lewis Hamilton clearly didn’t want to buy just any F40. He was looking for one with very low mileage and, above all, «a special history.» He eventually found exactly that: an F40 delivered in Modena in 1991, whose first owner reportedly drove it only 69 kilometers before parking it. It is said to have never been started again.
Standing before the car, still covered in dust, Hamilton is unsure of what to do next. Should he preserve this extraordinary time capsule in its original condition, or restore it to the way it looked when it left Maranello? «My dream would be for them to restore it, for it to look brand-new, for it to be delivered to Monza, and for me to drive it at Monza,» he explains. A scenario that, as we now know, actually came true in early September.
An incredible discovery: the engine is numbered 44
The video also reveals a detail that even Lewis Hamilton himself didn’t know before his F40 arrived at Ferrari. While inspecting the car, the team discovered that the number associated with its engine is… 44. «44? »Wow. OK,” Hamilton responds, visibly stunned. His team explains that they had only discovered this detail the day before.
The coincidence is, of course, incredible. The number 44 has been with Lewis Hamilton since his karting days and has become his number in Formula 1. Finding that same number on the engine of this 1991 F40 thus adds yet another unique feature to a car that already had plenty.
«To me, it's the most beautiful car.»
After several months of work, the time has finally come to unveil the restored F40. The dusty car, which had been sitting unused for decades, has given way to a Ferrari that looks like it just rolled off the assembly line. Lewis Hamilton walks around his new F40, examining the details, the exhaust, and the mechanics, before remarking, «It looks brand new.» Then, a few moments later: «To me, it’s the most beautiful car.»
He can then do what his initial dilemma seemed to almost prevent him from doing: get behind the wheel. The video ends with the first few revolutions of the wheels of this revived F40. A sequence that, above all, puts things into perspective his high-profile arrival at Monza on September 3. When he appeared behind the wheel of the F40 before posing in front of it, the whole thing had actually been planned months earlier.
Lewis Hamilton had announced it almost word for word during the restoration: to rebuild the car from scratch, have it delivered to Monza, and arrive there behind the wheel wearing a memorable outfit. From the discovery of an F40 that had been forgotten for decades to this carefully staged arrival, the Ferrari driver had already written the script. All that was left for Maranello to do was bring his childhood dream back to life.
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