Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari was from a 'frustrated' and 'slightly emotional' place, claims former Red Bull driver
Former Red Bull and McLaren driver David Coulthard feels that Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari might have come from a slightly frustrated and emotional place. The F1 legend decided early in 2024 that he was leaving the German team at the end of the year and moving to the Italian squad.
The move came as a shock for a lot of people as many expected the driver to end his career with Mercedes. Rather, he will move to Ferrari in 2025 and the car appears to be in great form. At the same time, Hamilton has struggled to perform this season. The British driver has been outperformed by teammate George Russell all season and in all likelihood will end the season outscored by him as well.
Talking about Hamilton and where he finds himself right now, David Coulthard felt that the call made by the driver came from a position of frustration after the struggles at Mercedes in the last two years.
Coulthard did, however, draw a comparison between the version of Michael Schumacher that Mercedes got and wondered if Ferrari is going to get something similar from Hamilton. As quoted by PlanetF1, he said:
“I suspect [the move] was slightly emotional and in a frustrated place. Some relationships, over time, become a bit stale. He obviously saw the opportunity at Ferrari a bit like, I guess, Mercedes when they brought Michael [Schumacher] back."
Coulthard added:
“They thought they were getting the Michael of his Ferrari era, and then they found out they just got a good Michael. Ferrari may end up just getting a good Lewis. A good Lewis is still pretty handy, but he’s been consistently outperformed by George this year – maybe not in the championship points table, but in terms of qualifying and that."
Lewis Hamilton has a big challenge in the form of Charles Leclerc
David Coulthard was quick to point out that Lewis Hamilton had a big challenge in front of him, in the form of Charles Leclerc. The young driver has been one of the best performers in F1 this season and just like Russell, this is going to be a big challenge.
Talking about how a slight drop in performance makes a big difference to drivers and how Hamilton might be going through that, Coulthard said:
"What I lacked in my career was that qualifying speed. If I look at the some of the fastest drivers, your Mikas, Kimis, Michaels, and Ayrtons and whoever else fits into that, these guys just have speed. The minute they lose that little bit of speed… I’m not a big football fan, but I hear the analogy about a striker losing a yard – the thing that allowed them to get there and put the ball in the back of the net was they were just that wee bit quicker."
Coulthard added:
“The minute they lose that speed… they’re still brilliant, but they’re not as brilliant as they were. So Lewis may well not quite deliver what he’s hoping for, because, first of all, he’s got to outqualify Charles. I think Charles, at 26/27, he’s still pretty handy, and that may make it difficult for Lewis.”
Lewis Hamilton would be joining Ferrari next season in what would be his team without a Mercedes engine in the car. There's a lot of F1 legacy that's going to come together when the two parties unite, but it would be interesting to see the kind of success Hamilton can achieve in the team.