F1 Stefano Domenicali on Hamilton: “He will return with even more desire to win the 8th title”

From our correspondent Giusto Ferronato

December 21
– brisighella (Ra)

“Lewis Hamilton? I’m sure he will recharge his batteries and come back with even more desire than before to win the eighth world title “. Stefano Domenicali has no doubts about the future of the English champion of Mercedes, indicated very disappointed by the outcome of the F1 world championship just ended and lost on a tightrope against Max Verstappen, after a bitter controversy over the use of the Safety Car during the last and decisive Abu Dhabi GP. The president of the Circus, former Ferrari team principal, spoke about it today in Brisighella, where he was awarded in the 28th edition of the Bandini Trophy, ex aequo with another former Ferrari driver, Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia Racing.

prestigious award

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In a restricted audience due to Covid, the presence of the two former leaders of the Cavallino drew the festive presence of some Ferrari Clubs, who wanted to take several souvenir photos with them. Then the award ceremony starts at the event established in 1992 that commemorates the unforgettable red-head driver who lost his life in the 1967 Monaco GP, assigning recognition to the personalities who contribute and give prestige to the world of Formula 1. In the past, among the winners also Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Jacques Villeneuve and last year Charles Leclerc. Bernd Maylander, F1 Safety Car driver and Jarno Zaffelli, designer who redesigned tracks such as Zandvoort and Abu Dhabi, also received recognition in this edition. Among the emerging drivers, Matteo Nannini was chosen, fresh from F2 and F3.

back to the origins

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For Domenicali, fresh from the successful management of a championship which, despite the difficulties of the pandemic, ended with an enormous peak in the audience at the last GP, it was an exciting day. “Coming back here is like a return to origins – said the manager from Imola -, yesterday I feel like the days when I started working as an assistant on the Imola track, for the success of the GP. And today I’m here in another role, surrounded by the affection of so many fans and my parents who see me less because now, for work, I live in London. But it is manifestations like this that remind us of the beauty of the things that matter. And then the death of Bandini had a considerable importance on F1 because it was a stimulus to work to make our sport safer ”.

towards a turning point in 2022

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Domenicali also spoke of the F1 that will come in 2022: “It is an important moment of transition – he said – F1 offers increasingly interesting ideas. The last Abu Dhabi GP was the most followed global event, we had a worldwide audience of 2 billion people in 2021, a great responsibility to manage this brand. In 2022 there will be a change of regulations and of the single-seaters, even if it is difficult to predict already now whether there will be more competition for the victory, perhaps not immediately. But surely the ceiling on the team budgets (the budget cap; ed), which begins to unfold its effects, will allow those who are late to recover more quickly and this is important “.