Lewis Hamilton experienced a touching interaction in Monza.

Lewis Hamilton has revealed a touching interaction with a member of the Tifosi at the Italian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion is enduring a challenging debut year with Ferrari, but has been caught off guard by his first experience of the Scuderia’s home race as a member of the team.

Hamilton travelled to Monza off the back of another difficult weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix, in which he qualified one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc before crashing out with an uncharacteristic mistake at the exit of Turn Three. After three race weekends in a row without a top-six finish, Hamilton was desperate for a clean run in Monza. Throughout free practice, he looked like a threat for pole position, and in qualifying, he was fifth-fastest, just behind Leclerc and ahead of former team-mate George Russell. With a five-place grid penalty carried over, he will start 10th on Sunday.

For the Brit, though, the standout result of the weekend was the support of the home crowd, who have stood by Hamilton, despite a rollercoaster start to life in Maranello. “It’s huge, honestly,” he said, addressing the backing of the Tifosi.

“It’s the most uplifting, and it’s also just the messages that people… sometimes they give to you, or the things that people say. You know, I think one of the things that someone said this week that I’ve been thinking of all week is ‘don’t forget who you are.’ And I really… it was good to have that.”

Hamilton has been uplifted by the performance on the track, too. While the end result in Zandvoort was frustrating, the 40-year-old stuck close to Leclerc in both practice and qualifying, and the same was true in Monza. F1’s most successful driver is now starting to feel comfortable behind the wheel of the SF-25.

“I am really, really happy with the progress we’ve made,” he told Sky Sports F1 on Saturday. “Particularly on my side of the garage, it’s definitely been a lot more solid last week and even more so this weekend, and I’ve been right there within a tenth.

“So just got to keep working on it, seeing progress. It’s been amazing being here as a Ferrari driver, I can’t even find the words for it, to be honest. The fans here are really beautiful. The energy since Wednesday, they have turned up in their thousands already for the event we had in the city in Milan.

“And then here, when you leave the garage, when you get down to turn one and see them on the left and the right and throughout the whole [circuit] you just see red, just red. I don’t know what’s possible tomorrow, but I’ve got to wiggle my way through.”