Lewis Hamilton spoke about his long-time love of Italian food, joking he “won’t fit in the car” if he continues eating pizza all year.

The new Ferrari driver said he has managed the rare feat of “somehow” losing weight after having several pizzas in the past week, but added he’s “got to be careful” given the temptation of some of the dishes within Italian cuisine.

Lewis Hamilton gives his answer on pizza vs pasta debate in ‘got to be careful’ admission

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The seven-time World Champion has spent the past month acclimatising to his new surroundings at Ferrari, undertaking factory work alongside his permitted testing of previous car [TPC] outings, as well as becoming acquainted with the tifosi in attendance at Maranello.

Hamilton has already spent a portion of his career racing in Italy, doing so while rising through the ranks in multiple karting championships, but returns as a Ferrari driver on a multi-year deal.

He is already taking steps to learn Italian, and when asked about how he has been enjoying the food since working for an Italian team, the Briton spoke about not only his memories of days gone by, but gave himself a warning about needing to keep himself in shape.

“Okay, the honest truth is I’ve had already quite a few pizzas, but somehow I’ve lost weight. Last week I had three pizzas!” Hamilton said with a smile to media including PlanetF1.com when asked about his diet changing in Italy so far, and whether he prefers pizza or pasta.

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“I mean, I love Italian food, I always have. I remember coming out here, and definitely I remember when I was racing Nico [Rosberg] 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.

He added with a laugh: “But yeah, I’m going to have to watch my diet – that’s gonna be hard. I’ve got to be careful. I can’t eat pizzas all year long, otherwise I won’t fit in the car!”

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