In February this year, the entire F1 world was in for a shock, with Lewis Hamilton revealing he would be jumping ship from Mercedes to Ferrari at the end of 2024. This has been one of the most significant driver movements in the history of F1. While the anticipation around the move continues to grow high, former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has a few words of caution for the seven-time world champion, as reported by PlanetF1.
Having driven for McLaren and Mercedes, Villeneuve warned Hamilton of a significant cultural change headed his way. Villeneuve, whose late father was a driver for Ferrari, understands the same and wants Hamilton to brace himself for a political challenge that Ferrari will certainly throw his way.
“He [Lewis Hamilton] is going to the biggest team in history that has the biggest image. But also a very chaotic team, a very political team. A very difficult team where the whole of Italy loves you or hates you in five seconds.”, said Villeneuve.
Furthermore, Villeneuve also reflected on the upcoming partnership between Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Touted to be the next F1 champion, Leclerc has only been able to win five races in his career so far. Hence, the Canadian former driver reckons Ferrari has tried to “build” Leclerc into a champion but have not gotten the desired results until now.
Meanwhile, Hamilton will be coming to the team as a seven-time world champion, not needing to build any image at all. Hence, Villeneuve thinks that there might be interesting battles between the two drivers soon. With the 1997 champion having his say on the matter, Hamilton’s former teammate, Nico Rosberg also joined the hottest topic of discussion in F1.
Nico Rosberg has his say on Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari
Several months after Lewis Hamilton’s announcement, his old teammate, Nico Rosberg, chimed in on the discussion, offering his thoughts on the situation. The 2016 world champion revealed he, too, was taken by surprise with the announcement.
However, looking at the bigger picture, the move made complete sense for Hamilton, per the German former driver. He drew comparisons between the #44 driver’s switch from McLaren to Mercedes and his upcoming move to further his point.
Calling both Mercedes and Ferrari legendary teams, the 38-year-old doesn’t question the decision much. When the British driver joined the Silver Arrows, they weren’t a winning outfit. However, the tide soon turned, and Mercedes ended up winning eight constructors’ titles on the trot.
Rosberg doesn’t see why the same isn’t a possibility with Ferrari, especially given they are a much stronger team. “McLaren were winning races, Mercedes was nowhere, and the moment he moved, McLaren went backward, and Mercedes started winning races. Maybe he can get the same stroke of, well, the same thing done again.”, he said.