Michael Schumacher’s long-time manager Sabine Kehm has warmly welcomed Ferrari’s special tribute livery for the 2026 Italian Grand Prix, describing the design as a fitting celebration of the German legend and the memories created during his extraordinary association with Maranello. Ferrari has transformed the SF-26 for Monza 30 years after Schumacher began racing for the team in 1996.
The tribute reaches beyond a simple colour change. Ferrari has drawn directly from the early Schumacher era with an almost entirely red car, gold wheel rims and personal details connected to the seven-time world champion. The design will be raced by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc during one of the most emotionally significant weekends of the Scuderia’s season.
Sabine Kehm praises Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher Monza tribute
Speaking to RTL, Kehm explained that she regarded Ferrari’s tribute as fantastic and felt the various elements worked together in harmony. For her personally, the design also carries a strong emotional connection because of the many positive memories associated with Schumacher, Ferrari and Monza.
She described that combination as one Formula 1 supporters naturally associate with one another and expressed her gratitude that Ferrari had chosen to honour Schumacher in this way. Kehm also anticipated a particularly special Italian Grand Prix weekend because of the relationship between the driver, the team and the circuit.
The full visual concept behind the Ferrari 2026 Michael Schumacher tribute livery includes several references to the 1996 season, when the German began the partnership that would eventually define one of Formula 1’s most successful eras.
Ferrari returns to a purer all-red look for the SF-26
The most immediately noticeable alteration is Ferrari’s return to an almost completely red appearance. The shade is slightly darker than the team’s usual 2026 colour scheme, while the white engine-cover treatment normally seen on the SF-26 has been removed.
Additional Schumacher references have been incorporated around the car. Seven stars appear on the nose in recognition of his seven Formula 1 world championships, while his logo has been positioned alongside the driver numbers towards the rear. Ferrari has also painted the wheel rims gold, creating another visual connection with the cars of Schumacher’s early years at Maranello.
Those details form part of a wider commemoration of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari career and legacy, which began three decades ago and ultimately produced five consecutive Drivers’ Championships between 2000 and 2004.
Kehm believes the purity of the red colour has been particularly well received by supporters. From what she had seen, fans responded enthusiastically to the appearance of the car, and she linked that reaction to the memories generated by Schumacher’s first years with Ferrari.
Monza played a defining role in Schumacher’s Ferrari story
The timing of the tribute also coincides with another significant anniversary. Twenty years ago, Schumacher won the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, securing the penultimate victory of his Formula 1 career. After the race, he announced that he would retire at the end of that season, although he later returned to Formula 1 with Mercedes in 2010.
Monza was one of Schumacher’s most successful circuits. He won the Italian Grand Prix five times, with every one of those victories coming for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton is the only driver to have matched that total.
Schumacher’s first Monza appearance as a Ferrari driver also delivered victory in 1996. Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve encountered problems during the race, allowing the German to capitalise and give the Tifosi a memorable home success even though Williams remained the stronger force across the season.
Reflecting on that first Ferrari campaign, Kehm acknowledged that 1996 had been extremely difficult but also represented an enormous and rewarding challenge. The new Monza design, in her view, brings back memories of both the car and the beginning of that journey.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc carry the tribute at Monza
Three decades later, the responsibility of racing the Schumacher-inspired SF-26 belongs to Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Hamilton’s presence adds another historical connection because he shares Schumacher’s record of seven Formula 1 Drivers’ Championships and has also won five times at Monza.
The latest developments surrounding the seven-time champion’s first seasons at Maranello can be followed through our Lewis Hamilton Ferrari coverage, while Leclerc returns to a circuit where he has already delivered two of Ferrari’s most celebrated recent victories.
Charles Leclerc won at Monza in 2019 and again in 2024. Together with Fernando Alonso’s triumph in 2010, those are Ferrari’s three Italian Grand Prix victories since Schumacher left the team. More news on the Monegasque and his home-race preparations is available through our Charles Leclerc coverage.
Ferrari targets another home victory in special colours
The tribute therefore arrives on a weekend when Ferrari is not simply looking backwards. The Scuderia is also chasing another victory in front of the Tifosi and the chance to extend its record at Monza to 21 wins.
That opportunity has been strengthened by Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s grid situation. The Mercedes driver is due to start from the back after receiving an engine-related penalty, removing one of Ferrari’s major rivals from the front of the starting order.
Hamilton and Leclerc will still have to convert the opportunity on track, but the significance surrounding the 2026 Italian Grand Prix at Monza is already considerable. For Kehm, however, the weekend carries an additional meaning: Ferrari has brought together Schumacher, Monza and the Scuderia once again through a design rooted in one of the most important partnerships in Formula 1 history.
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