Lewis Hamilton has insisted that heading to Ferrari was the “right move” as he contended that remaining with Mercedes in Formula 1 would have been a bigger “risk”.
Hamilton has completed his opening week as a Ferrari driver, visiting the team’s iconic Maranello headquarters and then making his maiden outing in a scarlet red machine.
The Briton clocked 30 laps in Ferrari’s 2023 car, the SF-23, at the Italian marque’s test track, an experience that he expressed marked “one of the best days of my life”.
Hamilton’s much-anticipated debut witnessed thousands congregate along the vantage points that align the edge of the venue to see the historic moment in person.
But despite the huge enthusiasm surrounding his venture in red, there has been scepticism about how prosperous Hamilton’s spell with Ferrari will prove to be.
Hamilton, who turned 40 earlier this month, endured a tough final season with Mercedes as team-mate George Russell out-qualified his compatriot 19 times across the 24 races.
The seven-time F1 champion is poised to experience an even greater test at Ferrari versus Charles Leclerc, a driver in his prime yeats billed as an F1 champion in waiting.
However, Hamilton has asserted there was more danger attached to honouring his Mercedes deal than there was to trading teams and taking on a challenge at Ferrari.
“I knew that signing with Ferrari was the right move for me and that it would give me the challenge I needed”, Hamilton said on LinkedIn’s “Get Hired” newsletter.
“Ultimately, every new opportunity is a total leap of faith.
“None of us can predict the future so changing jobs, or in my case teams, is always going to come with some level of risk.”
“But I believe there’s more of a risk in staying somewhere you’re comfortable and in getting complacent.”
“Call it instinct or a gut feeling, but I knew that signing with Ferrari was the right move for me and that it would give me the challenge I needed.
“There are so many incredible people in the team that I can’t wait to work with, and I have total faith that we’ll achieve great things together.”
Ferrari has no plans to replicate Mercede environment
Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari isn’t the only time that he has changed sides, but he has departed a tight-knit Mercedes group that had helped him to win six titles since 2013.
But Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur revealed that the team has no plans to replicate the environment that Hamilton was embedded in at Mercedes to accelerate his adaption.
“It would be wrong for us to copy the Mercedes situation and just paint everything red,” Vasseur told Auto Motor und Sport. “We have to find our own way with Lewis.”
Ferrari not worried about Hamilton’s 2024 struggles
Despite ending his protracted drought with two wins – including a record ninth victory at Silverstone – in 2024, Hamilton’s one-lap struggles caused him to question his speed.
However, Vasseur, who oversaw Hamilton’s run to the GP2 title in 2006 prior to his F1 debut, denied that he was worried that his headline signing might be on the decline.
Questioned on whether Ferrari was concerned about his results, Vasseur told media including Motorsport Week late last term: “Not at all.
“Have a look on the 50 laps that he did in [Las] Vegas. Starting P10, finishing on the gearbox of Russell [who won the race], I’m not worried at all.”
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