The warning Charles Leclerc gave Lewis Hamilton ahead of Ferrari milestone

Charles Leclerc has revealed the advice he gave Lewis Hamilton ahead of his first Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton is preparing for his first race weekend at Monza as a Ferrari driver after completing his shock switch from Mercedes over the winter.

Hamilton has endured a challenging first season with Ferrari so far and heads into the weekend on the back foot, with a five-place grid penalty looming over him from a nightmare Dutch Grand Prix.

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Leclerc says he warned teammate Hamilton that the special grand prix, which features additional commitments and activities for Ferrari drivers, can be energy-sapping.

“I definitely told Lewis that it’s quite a tiring week,” Leclerc is quoted as telling media including Motorsport Week.

“But the good thing is that you don’t feel tired at all throughout the week. You just feel particularly tired on the Sunday night when everything is gone.

“But before that, there’s so much positive energy around us that you only take that as a positive.

“And you’re always super motivated to get back on track and to just, yeah, live the moment. I mean, it’s just such a special weekend for us as Ferrari drivers.

“I don’t feel tired at all for now. But I know that coming Sunday night, you kind of don’t realise how tired you are until you actually finish the race. But it’s a nice feeling.”

Lewis Hamilton embracing Tifosi’s energy

Hamilton embraced the energy of Ferrari’s passionate fans when he and Leclerc were greeted by huge crowds during a special event in Milan on Wednesday.

“It was such a unique experience,” the Briton said during Thursday’s driver press conference. “Already from yesterday morning, getting to [the Ferrari factory in] Maranello, when you walk in and see the Ferrari logo… I still have to pinch myself.

“There are people outside the factory always. I’ve never seen fans outside the factory before, in any of my years. You see that every single time [here]. There’s clearly just so much love for this brand, and what it means to people.

“To be in Milan, really in the heart of it all, seeing the fans and just how passionate they were, it was intense, but very, very positive. I really tried to harness all of that good energy that they gave us.”

And Hamilton is determined to make the most of the upcoming weekend.

“Every weekend is the first time driving this car at a track, and the approach is different from my previous experiences,” he added. “When you go to these places the set-up’s different, so it’s always new, which I’m enjoying at the moment.

“I think Ferrari have generally gone pretty well [here] in the past years. Obviously they won here last year, with a great strategy and great drive from Charles.

“I’m just really keen to see how the car works here. We’re definitely learning from weekend to weekend, [with] loads of positives to take from the last, so we just have to keep building on that.”