Lewis Hamilton Finally Bought His Dream Car: The Ferrari F40

Lewis Hamilton sold his entire car collection last year, but there was always one car he said he’d make an exception for. Now, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion has finally bought his dream Ferrari: the one and only F40. The Scuderia driver took to Instagram to share photos of the iconic supercar undergoing an extensive restoration at the Maranello factory.

The car had reportedly spent more than 30 years sitting in a garage before Hamilton came across it and decided to bring it home. Judging by the license plate, it might have already been home, as the car appears to have been registered in Italy. For unknown reasons, the previous owner neglected it, allowing it to gather dust since the 1990s. It’s one of a little over 1,300 F40s built, and the last model Enzo Ferrari himself personally signed off on.

Hamilton had already given us a hint of just how much the F40 means to him. When he officially joined Ferrari in January 2025, one of the first images from his new chapter showed him posing next to an F40 at Maranello. The carefully staged photo became one of the defining images of his first day with the Scuderia, with Hamilton standing beside the legendary supercar outside Ferrari’s historic headquarters.

Not long after, the British racing driver revealed that he’d even like to work with Ferrari on a modern take on the F40. He had already thought of a name, F44, as a nod to his racing number:

'One of the things I really want to do is I want to design a Ferrari. I want to do an F44. Baseline of an F40, with the actual stick shift. That's what I'm gonna work on for the next few years.'
Until that happens, he must be thrilled to own the OG F40, especially one that’s now back in pristine condition after undergoing a weeks-long restoration in Maranello. The photos Hamilton shared show the supercar in various stages of the work, and the process appears to have been a comprehensive, engine-out recommissioning rather than a quick cosmetic refresh.

Predictably, Hamilton isn’t divulging how much he paid for the car, but RM Sotheby’s sold an F40 in April with just 1,118 miles (1,799 kilometers) on the clock for €4.3 million ($5 million).