Lewis Hamilton’s new adventure in F1, his time at Ferrari, has provoked all kinds of comments about how he will fare. Everyone is predicting whether he will do well or badly with the most successful team in the Grand Circus, but which has not won the drivers’ crown since 2007, with Kimi Raikkonen
However, no one may have been as radical as Bernie Ecclestone, the former Formula 1 supremo. The veteran was blunt when asked about his two-season contract with the Maranello team. “He won’t last that long,” he told The Telegraph
Reasons for signing
The former F1 boss gives his reasons for this hypothesis. He starts with how the Englishman has left Mercedes, the team with which he won six of his seven crowns – the other was with McLaren. “Piero Ferrari, who is the one who took him there, still believes they have done something right. I hope they have,I hope they haven’t suddenly rushed in and end up wishing they hadn’t,” he began
Not being the favorite
Ecclestone estimates that the Briton will not be number one in the ‘Scuderia’. “I don’t think Lewis will have the same attention at Ferrari. First of all, the team is happy with Charles Leclerc, his teammate. Charles speaks their language, so they will look after him. Even if Lewis does well, he will still have many enemies, because he is the newcomer,” he said.
It’s not the age
Some of those who do not expect much from the Briton at the Italian team base their opinion on the fact that Hamilton is already 40 years old. However, Bernie sees other problems. “I have my theory about it. It’s not about the age of the drivers, it’s about how long they’ve been doing the same thing,” he begins. And he goes on: “I’ve thought, about Lewis: ‘He’s getting tired. He’s lost motivation’. If he had never won a world championship, it might be different, because then he would have an incentive to win one, but he’s won seven.”
Distant relationship
When Lewis made his F1 debut in 2007, when Bernie was still in charge, he received constant praise from the supremo. It was like that for quite a few years, but the Stevenage-born driver was critical of certain statements by the manager. Such as when he said: “Blacks are more racist than whites”. The driver branded those words as “an ignorant and rude comment”. Subsequently, the executive came out in favour of Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the controversial Abu Dhabi 2021, where Hamilton lost the chance of his eighth title. Since then, Bernie has always been a great defender of the Dutchman