Sawt Falasteen - Ferrari fans downhearted by Hamilton's F1 troubles

The Scuderia's massive local support will descend on Monza this weekend in hope rather than expectation that Hamilton and his teammate Charles Leclerc can give them something to shout about in the face of overwhelming McLaren dominance.

Red was predictably the dominant colour around the circuit on Friday, with Ferrari fans discussing their beloved team's chances of adding to this year's paltry four podium finishes -- none of which have been claimed by seven-time F1 champion Hamilton -- and no GP wins.

"I was always a fan of Hamilton as a driver and we all hoped when he arrived that he would win his eighth world title with Ferrari; it would have been really romantic," says Luca Spagnoli, 19, to AFP.

"We'll see for next year but this season is basically done."

Hamilton is 200 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri and trails Leclerc by 42 having only finished ahead of the Monegasque twice all year.

"I'm disappointed because he's not performed as well as we hoped he would when he arrived, because we all thought that Hamilton would be ahead of Leclerc but instead Leclerc has been ahead of him in almost every race," adds Spagnoli.

Hamilton, who started the Monza weekend with the fastest time in Friday's first practice, crashed out of last weekend's Dutch GP and suggested Ferrari replace him during the Hungarian GP before the summer break.

- 'Emotional rollercoaster' -

The 40-year-old has since shown renewed enthusiasm to be a Ferrari driver, saying on Thursday that he still needed to pinch himself when returning to Italy and seeing the support for the team.

Hamilton described his first year in red as an "emotional rollercoaster", and Sunday's race will offer similar thrills with drivers at full throttle 80 percent of the time at the so-called "Temple of Speed".

So far Hamilton's best result has been winning the Sprint race at the China GP, scant reward for supporters who were delighted by his headline move to Ferrari after 12 years at Mercedes.

"I was excited," recalled Anna Rinaldi, 41.

"I was in a work meeting in Milan and I stopped the meeting, told everyone that this is a day for history, for Italy. It is a very important day in history.

"I really hope that they're focusing on next year and I hope they have something good to show for it. But my expectations are low because I've been a Ferrari fan for, I don't know, 40 years... the Schumacher years were good but other than that it's been very hard."

Hamilton's task at Monza has been made harder by a five-place grid penalty for failing to slow down in a yellow flag zone on his way to the grid at the Dutch GP.

- 'Sad end' -

And one group of five supporters, who belong to a Ferrari fan club from Mirabello Monferrato in the Piedmont region, were pessimistic about his chances this weekend and Ferrari's future.

Massimo Pilotto, 50, who is president of the club which has 140 members, laments that F1 has become "a sport that's about image".

"We're supporters, we get behind Charles and Lewis because that's our history. But he (Hamilton) isn't at ease here after 12 years at Mercedes.

"We'll keep supporting Ferrari... and I'll stay behind him because I believe he'll get there sooner or later."

His friend and fellow club member Antonio Muzio, a 74-year-old whose first live GP was at Monza when Niki Lauda was driving for Ferrari in the 1970s, believes that signing Hamilton was a mistake.

"I think he's going to have a sad end to his career, compared to what he was before. Like (Sebastian) Vettel and (Valentino) Rossi," said Muzio.

"I would have brought in a youngster, like Mercedes did with (Kimi) Antonelli.

"Clearly the car is no good because we haven't won a title for 17 years. McLaren have built a winning car in three years while Ferrari has been making losing cars."

O.Salim--SF-PST