Hamilton leans on Ferrari family and fans after Roscoe’s passing: “He was the most important thing in my life”
Lewis Hamilton arrived in Singapore carrying something heavier than a helmet bag. The seven-time World Champion is grieving the loss of Roscoe, his beloved bulldog and ever-present paddock companion, who passed away last Sunday after a battle with pneumonia. Hamilton shared the news with fans in a heartfelt post, and the response — millions of reactions and hundreds of thousands of messages — has been a tidal wave of support he’s still trying to process.
“Yeah, lots of messages,” he said on Thursday under the lights at Marina Bay. “It’s quite overwhelming, to be honest, to see just how many people Roscoe touched around the world, and really heartwarming to receive them. I’ve not been able to reply to everybody, but yeah, he was the most important thing in my life, so it was a very difficult experience.”
For more than a decade, Roscoe wasn’t just a fixture in Hamilton’s life — he was part of the show. Alongside Coco, who passed away in 2020, Roscoe strolled the paddock, sat for photos, and became the soft, goofy counterweight to a job that demands relentless sharpness. Hamilton doesn’t have children and keeps his private life guarded. The dogs were constant, uncomplicated company through the highs and the bruising lows.
That attachment explains the rawness in his voice when he tried to articulate it. “I know so many people in the world have gone through it, and know what it’s like to have a pet that’s just…” he paused. “They give you such amazing love, and it’s an amazing experience. But yeah, I’m really just looking forward to now just getting back in the car and doing what I love doing here.”
The timing is delicate. Hamilton’s first season with Ferrari has been more graft than glory to this point. He’s still hunting that first podium in red, and while the flashes of speed have grown more frequent relative to Charles Leclerc, the weekends haven’t consistently come together. It’s been a year of groundwork rather than headlines — all in a team that craves both.
Asked if the emotion could fuel a tribute result, he widened the lens. “There are a lot of people that deserve a good result from my side,” he said. “This team, the tifosi, and the people that have been following me, and all the people have been checking in and so supportive of this past whole year, but also particularly this past week. I think it’s in moments like that where you really see people show up for you, and that’s been really overwhelming to see, and really well welcomed.”
Inside Ferrari, Hamilton says the backing has been total. Fred Vasseur has made a point of insulating his drivers as the Scuderia chases form and fends off noise. Hamilton didn’t hide his appreciation.
“Fred’s supporting me has been amazing,” he said. “It’s not been the perfect year, as we know, but it’s been a lot of learning, and I think we’re just going from strength to strength. I think we are more solid and more united as a team than ever before.
“There are clearly things that we need to improve on, but we’re under no illusions that that’s the case, and everyone [is] just flat-out focused on improvement processes and really, right now races like that, each race, we’re learning something. We look at the last race, and our shortcomings are things that it’s better to have now in a championship when we’re not fighting for a championship, than in the moment we are.”
With a sweeping regulation reset looming next season, Ferrari’s 2025 has increasingly felt like a long, hard shakedown for something bigger. That doesn’t make the present weekends any less important. Singapore rewards rhythm, patience and trust — in the car, the team, and yourself. Hamilton’s built careers out of that triangle. This weekend, it carries a little more weight.
Roscoe was there at Silverstone earlier this year, ambling through the paddock in the British sun, Ferrarista-for-a-day with a bulldog grin. The photos did the rounds and, like most things Hamilton touches, turned into a moment. It’s no surprise the outpouring over the last week has stretched far beyond F1’s usual borders.
Grief doesn’t run on a timetable. But drivers do, and Hamilton will strap in tonight with something close to peace about where he is and who’s around him. The Ferrari garage is loud, the tifosi louder still, and somewhere in the din there’s room for a quiet nod to a friend who made the circus feel a little more human.
