Former Ferrari chief insists Hamilton 'at the end'

Former Ferrari F1 team principal Mattia Binotto has said that Lewis Hamilton is 'now at the end of his career', and that the team would have preferred to have signed him a few years ago.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton joined the Maranello-based outfit back in January following 12 seasons spent with Mercedes, but he has not got off to the best of starts in Ferrari red.

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Hamilton is currently sat down in sixth in the drivers' championship, 23 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, and he is yet to pick up a grand prix podium for his new team.

He is a staggering 115 points off the championship lead after just nine rounds of the season, not a good statistic for somebody hoping to challenge for a record-breaking eighth world championship title.

Ferrari initially signed Hamilton in the hope that his experience could propel them on to winning their first championship of any kind since 2008, having finished just 14 points behind McLaren in the 2024 constructors' championship.

The team are already 197 points behind McLaren this season, but Binotto - who was Ferrari team principal between 2019 to 2022 - believes that the team are on the right track to have a 'satisfying' season.

"It's clear that the performance on the track and the results are not happy right now," Binotto told Automoto.it. "But I know every single member of that team very well and I know that they are good, strong and capable.

"They will know how to improve the car and do well in the future, and I think Ferrari can take some satisfaction for this year."

Is Hamilton nearing the end?

Binotto is now the chief operating officer at Sauber, who are due to transition into Audi next year under the watchful eye of the Swiss-Italian and new team principal Jonathan Wheatley.

While Binotto admitted that he would have liked to have Hamilton at Ferrari when he was there, the 55-year-old has hinted that Ferrari may have signed him a little too late on in his career.

"Hamilton is of a certain age," Binotto continued. "Ferrari got him when he was now at the end of his career. Ideally we would have been able to get him a few years earlier."

Hamilton's poor form in the opening nine race weekends of the year have led to some suggesting he may retire early, with Ralf Schumacher recently saying he could quit the sport before the end of his current contract - which expires at the end of the 2026 season.

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