Lewis Hamilton indulges in Italian treat food as F1 legend jokes he won't fit in Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton joked that his love of Italian pizza could become a problem when it comes to fitting into his Ferrari car.

Hamilton has joined the famous Italian team this year in search of an eighth Formula 1 drivers' title. And he has certainly been enjoying his first few weeks at Maranello ahead of the upcoming new season.

One of the big attractions about visiting or moving to Italy is the cuisine and it seems Hamilton has been making the most of it. He admitted as much as he suggested he is going to have to cut back on his favourite treat food now that the season is approaching.

The Brit smiled as he said: "The honest truth is I've had already quite a few pizzas, but somehow I've lost weight. Last week I had three pizzas! "I love Italian food, I always have.

"I remember coming out here and definitely I remember when I was racing Nico [Rosberg, at Mercedes] at the time. When we used to go out and get gelato every freaking night, and we used to eat a lot of pizza, so I think pizza is always the first thing.

"Penne arrabbiata has my always been my favourite dish, and then one of my favourites, that I don’t eat now, but I had this unbelievable lasagne, which was made from my first mechanic, who was Luca Del Fante. And his wife's mother made me the most insane lasagne when I was 13 years old, and I never forgot about it.

"But yeah, I'm going to have to watch my diet - that's going to be hard. I've got to be careful. I can't eat pizzas all year long, otherwise I won't fit in the car!"

Weight is a significant consideration for F1 teams as a lighter car generally means a faster car. However, the regulations mandate a minimum weight of 800kg for the 2025 season, and that is inclusive of the weight of a driver.

That means drivers have to manage their weight to the kilogram over the course of a season. If they put on too many pounds, then their team will be unhappy as it will affect performance, and yet they cannot lose too much weight otherwise the car will be too light and they could find themselves disqualified from races.

That would be far from ideal for Hamilton who, at the age of 40, is running out of opportunities to win their elusive eighth title. He will begin his quest this year on March 16 with the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.