Hamilton's Arrival To Ferrari 'Is a Risk' Says Former Team President

Wednesday, 18 December 2024 at 12:00

Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo warned about the risks associated with Lewis Hamilton's arrival to the F1 team from Maranello.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will join Scuderia Ferrari at the beginning of 2025, replacing Carlos Sainz, who went to Williams.

Lewis Hamilton is probably the most famous driver on the grid, and commercially, it would make sense for every single team to sign him.

After announcing the signing of the 39-year-old, Ferrari's market value shot up by 4 billion dollars as shareholders deemed it extremely positive news.

While some F1 fans and pundits worried that marketing was the only reason for Ferrari and Hamilton's collaboration, the former president of the Italian team, Luca di Montezemolo, told Rai Gr Parlamento radio that he's sure the Briton is aiming for another title.

"Hamilton is a phenomenon like Verstappen. His arrival at Ferrari is not a marketing operation: he wants to end his career by winning in red."

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The Ferrari F1 team has not won a title since 2008, so it has been 16 years. If the seven-time World Champion managed to bring glory back to Maranello, it would be an incredible story. As former F1 team principal Guenther Steiner jokes, he would "end up in the Vatican."

On the other hand, Montezemolo also sees a risk associated with Hamilton becoming one of Ferrari's two drivers. He said:

"But the choice of Lewis, on the one hand, is a risk because it takes a champion who has won a lot and who comes to Ferrari to win."

"On the other hand, there is Leclerc, who, despite having good races, has never been champion, and the years go by."

"It will be a very interesting year for Ferrari, provided that they manage to bridge the gap with McLaren to start already competitive from the first race. There also must be clarity of the management within the team."