Lewis Hamilton has three remaining race weekends before he leaves his F1 home of twelve years to join the iconic scarlet Ferrari team. The seven times champion has been comprehensively beaten by his team mate this season, although the points table suggests the duel was closer than it was in reality.
Last time out in Brazil, Hamilton cut a dejected and lonely figure even complaining to assembled media he would happily start his winter break right now. “Yesterday was bad, qualifying was bad, the Sprint race was bad. The car’s just been bad all weekend.”
Once renown as the F1 master in wet conditions, Lewis complained his W15 was bouncing around the entire lap of Interlagos stating its the “worst car I’ve ever driven”. With his sights set firmly on his new life in Maranello, Lewis Hamilton has received a boost from his future team as they roll out the red carpet like never since the days of Michael Schumacher.
Wolff demeaning Hamilton legacy
This is in stark contrast to the ‘revenge is best served cold’ tyre retaliation Toto Wolff has been meeting out recently. He admits he knew Hamilton was talking to Ferrari because he received a call from Carlos Sainz Snr, who knew his son’s new contract was on hold while Lewis concluded his talks with the Scuderia.
The implication is clear. Wolff could have intervened with the counter offer, but chose to allow things take their natural path and lose his once star driver. In his book recently released with the title ‘Life in the fast lane,’ Wolff explains he had engineered the new contract Lewis signed with the team last year to allow either party the right of a break after just one year.
The Mercedes boss suggests Lewis may be approaching his “shelf life” and his job as team boss is to look to the future. He also expressed relief that Hamilton took the initiative with Ferrari because Toto was not looking forward as he said to telling one of the finest ever F1 drivers, “its time to call it a day.”
With the car playing up, his soon to be ex-boss slagging him off its clear Lewis Hamilton is not at his best and the reset in Maranello will be a positive effect. As if to cheer Hamilton up from his malaise, Ferrari have announced when the team is testing at their Fiorano circuit, Lewis will have the use of Enzo Ferrari’s old house.
Team boss in firing line over Ricciardo
Why Enzo’s house is such a BIG deal
Its regular for the teams to find accommodation for their travelling drivers, the news of which rarely hits the least read page. Yet this is a HUGE deal, this isn’t just any house and Ferrari are not just any team.
Since Michael Schumacher hung up his racing overalls, nobody, and I mean nobody has been afforded this privilege. Not Fernando Alonso, nor Sebastian Vettel and not the team’s latest protege, Charles Leclerc.
Its like being handed the keys to the Whitehouse except this place was home to the most influential figure in global motorsport. Where Lewis lays his hat when in Italy is not that big a deal, but this is Ferrari telling him he is not just another driver. Enzo’s house was the heart of the Ferrari operations during the life of the great man. Meetings and decisions were taken here which shaped the world of Formula One and even the wider world of motorsports came under the influence of there Mafioso like figure.
As the Hamilton and Mercedes farewell reaches its damp squib climax, Ferrari respond by offering the seven times champion the status of automobile royalty and is the kind of power play which could have been made in a darker period of Italian history.
Hamilton not Vasseur’s choice
What’s most remarkable is that Hamilton hasn’t even taken his seat in the hallowed scarlet Ferrari yet and the last time the Prancing Horse demonstrated such respect for an incoming driver, was for Michael Schumacher. That ended with five consecutive driver titles and became the most successful period in F1, the Scuderia has ever enjoyed.
This gesture however may come back to trouble Fred Vasseur and was most probably not proposed by the team principal. John Elkann, the president of the wider Ferrari group, is credited with bringing Hamilton to Northern Italy.
Days before the Hamilton contract was signed, Fred Vasseur was talking about wanting to continue with his current driver pairing of Sainz and Leclerc, now the softly spoken Frenchman will have to deal with the fallout of an ageing F1 superstar and his effect on the team’s harmony.
Lewis Hamilton has been backed by Mercedes since the age of 12, due to the relationship of the German brand as engine supplier to the McLaren team who took him under their wing. By offering him Enzo’s house, Ferrari are literally inviting him into THEIR family now.
The heir to the throne
Ferrari have recruited other ageing world champions in recent times. Both Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel joined the Scuderia in hope of glory. Yet Ferrari’s last title was back in 2008, the year Hamilton won the first of his seven world titles.
Whilst having a nice place to stay won’t make the car any quicker for Lewis, yet as is there sign of a true champion he is joining a team who look better placed to understand the new ground effect cars.
How all this looks to Charles Leclerc is anyone’s guess. Ferrari have not just hired Lewis as a driver, he is being anointed as their next great champion. In Ferrari-land, heritage and emotion are just as important as lap times, which is why the offer of Enzo’s house is is such a statement of intent.
Whether all this will pick Lewis up or remind him of the pressure he is taking on amongst the Tifosi who regard Ferrari as the Italian National team. The last driver to inhabit Enzo’s house went on to become the most successful Ferrari driver of all time, something Lewis cannot do. But an 8th title?
Lewis has some rather large boots to fill.
Albon admits F1 ladder “a dark art”
F1 flexi wings now allowed until 2026
As the 2024 Formula One season draws to a close on reflection this has been the most entertaining campaign since the epic duel between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton back in 2021. Of course Max will go on to claim his fourth consecutive drivers’ title, but for much of the second half of the year it was never a foregone conclusion.
Had Lando Norris not had his car terminally damaged in Austria, that race alone saw a 32 point swing in Verstappen’s favour. This would reduce the current 62 point deficit the British driver has to Max, to just 30 with 86 more points on offer.
Add into the mix the 7 and 3 points McLaren threw away for not issuing team orders in Hungary and Monza and the final triple header of the year could well have seen another title decider in the desert of Abu Dhabi… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
Ferrari has pulled off a master stroke. LeClerc is good but not championship ready. Sainz would have been a better bet and will trouble other drivers in the future.