• Hamilton at Imola for first time since agreeing 2025 Ferrari move
• Max Verstappen angry after Hamilton blocked him in practice

Lewis Hamilton, for so long the thorn in Ferrari’s side, takes to the track this weekend in Italy as a potential hero in waiting. The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola will be Hamilton’s first race in front of the Ferrari faithful since he signed for the Scuderia in February and, while he is still driving a Mercedes, for the tifosi Hamilton embodies visions of a return to glory in scarlet.

Hamilton shocked Formula One and ­Mercedes when he announced he had done a deal to join Ferrari in 2025, the team he has battled with since his career began. The ­Scuderia last won the drivers’ ­championship in 2007, when Kimi Räikkönen pipped ­Hamilton to the title in the British driver’s debut season. A year later Hamilton denied Ferrari’s Felipe Massa the crown in a nail-biting finale in Brazil.

• Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is the first race since Miami triumph
• ‘I think we are the third-best team behind Red Bull and Ferrari’

Lando Norris returns to racing after his first Formula One win confident he and his McLaren team are in a position to begin a challenge for the world title against Max Verstappen.

Norris took his first F1 victory at the 110th attempt at the last round in Miami, seeing off Verstappen in a car that, with the upgrades McLaren had applied at the race, was quickest on track even before the world ­champion’s Red Bull sustained damage.