Ferrari can correct Lewis Hamilton mistake with Max Verstappen signing

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen look across at each other with a Ferrari badge in the background — Photo: © IMAGO

Ferrari F1

Ferrari can correct Lewis Hamilton mistake with Max Verstappen signing

Ferrari should be thinking bigger than and beyond Lewis Hamilton

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Monday 11 May 2026 08:27

Lewis Hamilton signing for Ferrari was never going to pan out the way people hoped it would. How could it?

The greatest name in F1 joining the greatest team in F1 was always going to look irresistible on paper. It was romantic, box-office and commercially enormous. A match made in motorsport heaven.

But if Ferrari were really looking for the driver to build their next title era around, they signed the wrong world champion.

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That is not a criticism of Hamilton's career, his legacy or his ability to still produce something special. It is a cold hard assessment of where Ferrari are and what they need.

Quite simply, they need Max Verstappen.

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Every time should want Verstappen

The Dutchman is still the driver every team should want if they are truly serious about winning. He is younger than Hamilton, already a multiple world champion, brutally consistent and able to drag results from weekends where Red Bull have no obvious right to be involved.

Ferrari do not need another symbol - they have plenty of those. Instead they need a driver who would force the entire operation to sharpen around him, from engineering and strategy to recruitment and development direction.

Money is no object with cost cap not an issue

Driver salaries are not part of the F1 cost cap, which gives Ferrari room to do something they cannot do with car development. They cannot simply spend their way beyond Mercedes, McLaren or Red Bull on aero, manufacturing or upgrades, but they can throw serious money at a driver if they decide he is worth it.

Verstappen is worth it.

The structure is not impossible to imagine either. Hamilton's current team-mate Charles Leclerc could move to Red Bull if Verstappen left, or to McLaren depending on what happens with Oscar Piastri. Ferrari could then promote Oliver Bearman into the second seat. F1 is very accustomed to a high-stakes game of musical chairs.

Bearman is already tied to Ferrari, has shown enough promise at Haas and would represent a very different financial commitment to Leclerc.

This would give Ferrari a cleaner model: spend the huge money on Verstappen, use Bearman as the developing second driver and build the team around the one man they believe can win them a championship.

Ferrari must build around one driver

Ferrari's problem is not only who is driving the car. It is that the team has spent too long feeling like a giant operation without a ruthless centre.

Verstappen would change that instantly, but only if Ferrari did it properly.

He would need to believe the car could win. He would need to believe the right technical people were coming. He would need to believe Ferrari were prepared to shape the project around him rather than simply add him to the theatre of Maranello and hope the badge did the rest.

That is where this becomes less about what will happen and more about what Ferrari should be thinking. Hamilton was the dream signing, Verstappen would be the hard-nosed signing. The right signing.

If Ferrari really want to correct their mistake, they should stop chasing the fairytale ending and start chasing the driver most likely to end their title wait.

Hamilton at Ferrari was beautiful. Verstappen at Ferrari would be ruthless. Only one of those wins you an F1 title.

F1 Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Ferrari