Ferrari urged to tempt Lewis Hamilton like Niki Lauda and Ross Brawn once did
Niki Lauda and Ross Brawn were among the driving forces of bringing Hamilton across from McLaren in 2013 in a move which raised eyebrows because Mer🦩cedes were not considered frontrunners.
Six more F1 championships later, Hamilton is now 38 and in the final year of his contract with Mercedes unable t𝓡o provide a car which can compete for glory f🍨or two seasons in a row.
“As a racing driver I don’t see why he would not have the motivation, espe📖cially for that eighth title,” ex-F1 driver Herbert told .
“He is still good enough. I know what it means for hꦑim.
“George Russell is doing a cracking job but Lewis has still got what it takes to win races.&nbs🐼p;
“He is not comfortable with the car, but that𒊎 happens. Every single driver I know has moments when they feel un꧒comfortable with their car and complain.
“It is unfair to critici♏se Lewis for that. The motivation for the eighth is still there.🌄
“But it has to have the right ingredients - like he did when he went from McLaren to Mercedes wꦰhen a number of people, including myself, thought he was mad to do it.
“Mercedes at that point were nowhere. What Niki Lauda and Ross Brawn were able to present to him excited him. That’s why he ꦚwent.
“Ferrari have got to do a🀅 similarly big selling job.
“Lewis hasn’t signed his extension and that enables him, if h💮e is still motivated, to ജlook elsewhere.
“And why wouldn’t he? Ferrari has to be the option. He is not going to go to Red Bull, that isn’t going to happenꦚ. He is not going to go to Aston Martin either.
“I know Ferrari have not quite been able to achieve what we all expect Ferrari to achieve, but they certainly have the potenti♒al to be able to do it. That’s for sure.
“They have got closer over the🐷 past couple of years but it hasn’ꦬt quite worked out.
“Maybe he wants to hold on to see which direction Mercedes has gone and what they do, which 📖is not very positive, and then maybe put the feelers out for somewhere else.
“The red car makes the most sense. If it happened, then the one who would ꦍsuffer would be Carlos Sainz as Charles Leclerc is already concreted in.
“Hamilton and Sainz at Ferrari would be a wonderful pairing, to be honest. The young and the experienced, fighting it out in a Ferrari that hopefully, with the whole ability that Lewis has, to draw in the right🅠 people to be able to produce a car and take it to Red Bull as it is at the moment.”
Merce🍎des team principal Toto Wolff and Hamilton himself have both suggested that a contract renewal is on the cards and could be signed within wee✤ks.
However, the longer it goes unconfirmed and the longer that Mercedes’ W14 lags behind the Red Bulls, the more tempted Hamilton might bec🤡ome to try something new.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, t💃o football, to F1.
