Formula 1 would benefit from seeing Lewis Hamilton make a switch to Ferrari, believes former team boss Eddie Jordan.
Hamilton’s current contract with Mercedes expires at the end of the 2023 season, with rumours swirling regarding his next move.
The seven-time World Champion has enjoyed a bulk of his success at Mercedes, but the Brackley-based squad is currently competing off the front-running pace.
Hamilton endured his first win-less F1 campaign last year, and has struggled at the start of 2023.
Jordan has backed Hamilton to seek out a drive at Ferrari.
“F1 needs Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari and Ferrari needs Lewis Hamilton,” he told OLBG.
“Hamilton should look to go to another Championship-winning team, but the drama is who is going to move aside?
“Red Bull would not let Sergio Perez [go] for Hamilton because they try to encourage drivers who have been through their teams to try and reach the top like Max Verstappen did.”
“Hamilton is a McLaren man, but I can’t see him going back there because of the position they’re in.
“The only other places I see Hamilton going is Ferrari or staying at Mercedes. At the moment, there’s no contract signed and Toto Wolff said if he was Hamilton he would consider leaving.
“What would I be thinking if I was Hamilton, am I really loved here? What is actually happening at Mercedes?
“I’m not in the thick of things like I used to be. I don’t know Wolff’s point of view on the situation but I believe when he says he wants Hamilton to stay. But the Mercedes is not good enough for Hamilton.”
The situation of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc swapping seats was proposed to Jordan, who described it as “mouth-watering”.
Leclerc joined Ferrari in 2019 and has won a handful of grands prix – but a serious championship challenge has failed to materialise.
“Now that would be interesting,” Jordan said. “Charles Leclerc is very much a Mercedes type of driver, and to see Leclerc and George Russell fight it out would be great.
“That could be a deal in heaven. I know Leclerc quite well as a person and he’s magnificent, but so is Hamilton, so who is to say it would be any different.
“I’m sure everyone in F1 would love to see a swap between Hamilton and Leclerc, that would be mouth-watering.
“When I dream of Hamilton going to Ferrari, it is just a thought because he has won seven world championship titles with Mercedes so he might want to stay.
“Then again, all the great drivers would feel the pull of a great team like Ferrari, that’s where I think Hamilton should end up.”
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