Ferrari teases Michael Schumacher tribute livery for home F1 race at Monza

Ferrari is teasing a tribute to legendary Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher at the team's home Italian Grand Prix. 

It has been reported that Ferrari will honour Schumacher’s legacy with the Maranello team by running its SF-26 cars in a special livery dedicated to the German, who won five of his seven world championships in red. 

According to AutoRacer, the design will combine red and black accents with gold wheels, taking inspiration from the 1996 F310. 

Next week’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza marks the 30-year anniversary since Schumacher’s first victory with Ferrari in 1996, as well as coming 20 years after his last F1 win in 2006. 

Ferrari is planning several events to pay tribute to Schumacher in the build up to the Monza race, and during the weekend itself. Ferrari has hinted at this via a series of posts on social media. 

Schumacher claimed five world titles in a row for Ferrari from 2000 to 2004 and amassed 72 of his 91 race wins with the Italian outfit. 

During his career, Schumacher won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza five times with Ferrari. 

His seven F1 titles is a record shared jointly with current Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton, who surpassed Schumacher’s record tally of race wins in 2020. 

Hamilton, who secured his first Ferrari win at Barcelona in June, is currently third in the drivers world championship, 59 points behind Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli. 

Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc’s hopes of winning Ferrari’s home race are set to be boosted by the anticipated introduction of an upgraded power unit. 

A tearful Schumacher announced his first retirement immediately after winning the 2006 Italian Grand Prix. 

He returned to F1 with Mercedes in 2010, before retiring for good two years later. 

The 57-year-old suffered severe head injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013 and has not been seen in public since.