Martin Brundle believes the “peak” of Lewis Hamilton’s abilities may be behind him, but he still backs the former Mercedes driver to succeed in Formula 1 with Ferrari.
Hamilton has officially begun work as a Ferrari driver having announced his departure from the Silver Arrows prior to the previous campaign beginning.
The 2024 F1 season was a rollercoaster of emotions for the British driver, the highlight being winning the British Grand Prix for a record ninth time.
However, the lowest point for Hamilton came at the Qatar Grand Prix when he admitted, after a difficult Sprint Qualifying session, that he was no longer “fast anymore”.
In his final race for Mercedes, the 39-year-old recovered from another poor qualifying session to overtake his team-mate, George Russell, on the final lap and finish fourth.
Afterwards, Brundle gave his verdict on Hamilton’s performance and his move to the Prancing Horse for 2025.
“Tremendous drive, a bit like Las Vegas as well, wasn’t it, where he came back through the field and just showed a lot of pace, a lot of determination,” Brundle told Sky Sports F1.
“Plenty of people [are saying], ‘Is Lewis over the hill?’ Is his peak ahead of him or behind him? His absolute peak, it might be behind him as he turns 40 in January.
“But, 98 per cent of Lewis Hamilton in a race-winning Ferrari will win races, and maybe, he’ll get some new energy there as well.
“So he showed today that there’s still a lot to come from Lewis Hamilton at the wheel of a Formula 1 car.”
Hamilton the ‘biggest disappointment’ of 2024
Russell outscored Hamilton by 22 points and outperformed the seven-time World Champion 19 times in qualifying over the 24 races.
Ex- F1 driver David Coulthard shared his views on the Brit’s performances last season when asked for his picks for the best and worst performers in 2024.
“I would still point to Lewis as the biggest disappointment,” Coulthard told Viaplay.
“I know that’s controversial as he’s a seven-time World Champion and a real winning machine, but I’ve never seen this Lewis in Formula 1.
“He was beaten in qualifying, while the greats can always find speed somewhere to squeeze out a qualifying lap when it really matters.”
Coulthard also expressed his opinions on Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, adding: “Ferrari of course signed him early in the year and then everyone was very enthusiastic.
“Ferrari’s shares shot up so fast that they have probably already eliminated all the costs of bringing in Lewis and [Fred] Vasseur [Ferrari team principal] of course knows him well.
“But Formula 1 remains a sport that is very dependent on data.
“The stopwatch doesn’t lie and at the moment it just doesn’t deliver in terms of lap times – so they have to worry a little bit.”
“But sometimes change is also good.
“Maybe the switch to Ferrari for Hamilton, putting on that red suit, works the same as Superman putting on his suit.
“But it will be an exciting time anyway.”
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