Lewis Hamilton is statistically the greatest driver in Formula One history. 104 wins the most all-time besting the second place Michael Schumacher by 13 wins. Lewis is also tied with Schumacher in championships with seven. However, could a move that propelled Schumacher spell the ultimate doom to any hope of a record-breaking Lewis Hamilton eighth-world championship?
Can Lewis help turn the ship around for the once-great Ferrari brand, just like Schumacher did when he came to Ferrari in 1997?
The Second Big Swing Appears to Miss
Adrian Newey is the hottest Free Agent in Formula One. Newey is credited with building the Red Bull cars in all seven of their championships between Sebastian Vettel (4) and Max Verstappen (3). The rumors have been swirling that Newey is in deep talks with Ferrari to become their Chief Technical Officer. However, it seems those talks have fallen through and Newey is only reportedly considering McLaren and Aston Martin.
The favorite of those two appears to be Aston Martin as Chairman Lawrence Stroll will spare no expense to win It is currently the tougher challenge that Newey enjoys more and is looking for. Many Ferrari fans were clamoring and hoping to sign the 65-year-old aerodynamic genius but it is reportedly no longer on the table.
Ferrari Strategic Blunders
Over the last number of years, the Ferrari pit strategy has been not even subpar but downright horrible. The strategy has cost Ferrari countless races throughout the last number of years causing great frustration with the current Ferrari Phenom Charles LeClerc and veteran driver Carlos Sainz. This year in desperate hail mary attempts Ferrari has put LeClerc on the wrong tires in hopes of them becoming the right tires which have failed in Canada and Silverstone.
On top of the poor strategy, the upgrades that Ferrari brought were so faulty that they canceled and reverted to the old parts setting back the prancing horses. A frustrated Sainz told the media:
It is clearly not good enough, We have basically the same car as in Imola and since Imola everyone has upgraded, probably added two-tenths to the car and we have had to revert. We have lost two or three months of performance gain in the wind tunnel or performance we could have added in these three months, so clearly we haven’t taken the right calls recently. I feel like today was at least back-to-basics, back to a car which was in Imola and we just need to upgrade it from here. But it is clear that our rivals are a good step ahead of us.
For Hamilton is he going to have the patience to deal with these shortcomings that just don’t happen at Mercedes? Is Lewis going to be able to handle the extra pressure of being in a Ferrari when it is reasonable to believe Ferrari will inadvertently cost Hamilton wins and maybe a championship because of the leadership incompetence? Mercedes has won the last two Grand Prixs with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
The Mercedes Stability
In 2014 Toto Wolff took over as the Team Principal ushering in the hybrid era with one of the most dominant runs in F1 history. Winning the constructors championship eight consecutive times (2014-2021). In that Span Ferrari has had four team principals and Ferrari’s last constructors title coming in 2008 and last drivers championship coming in 2007 with the now retired Kimi Räikkönen.
Hamilton has not had that kind of instability in his career. At Mclaren, he consistently progressed after winning the championship in his second season despite Red Bull’s emergence with Sebastian Vettel. In his second season with Mercedes, He won his second championship and won the next five of six years because Mercedes hit a home run on the engine regulation change to the Hybrid era.
It is quite simple, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Yes, Ferrari is the New York Yankees of Formula One. Everyone wants to wear the Ferrari Red, however for Lewis Hamilton to wear that Ferrari red could come at the cost of never reaching the unprecedented eighth world championship. Mercedes have shown the capability to win, while Ferrari is operating on nostalgia and Hamilton has fallen for it.
