Pundit asks whether Ferrari have 'let the wrong driver go' after signing Hamilton

Broadcasting legend Martin Brundle has questioned whether Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari move may turn out to be a 'near miss', rather than inspiring great success like Michael Schumacher.

Hamilton will head to Maranello at the start of the 2025 season, in a last-ditch attempt to claim an unprecedented eighth world championship title.

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That would be one more than the legend with whom Hamilton currently shares the championship record with, Schumacher, who won five of his seven titles with Ferrari in a period of extreme dominance in the early 2000s.

Hamilton, however, will be much older than Schumacher was when he joins Ferrari, with the Brit set to race well into his 40s in the red of the most successful team on the Formula 1 grid.

Will Hamilton succeed at Ferrari?

The 39-year-old has not won a single race since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and has had to sit by as Red Bull have dominated the sport with their star driver Max Verstappen.

That is a feeling that was pretty familiar with two Ferrari legends in recent times, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, who had to be content with a sprinkling of race victories, rather than championship titles, during their respective periods with Ferrari.

Brundle has questioned whether this may be the same for Hamilton, who hopes to emulate the success of Schumacher with the Maranello-based squad. Brundle was asked whether Ferrari may be regretting their decision, with the form of Carlos Sainz in 2024.

“Well, if they do, they certainly won't be letting us know about it. They've made their decisions," he revealed on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

“Charles is a world class racing driver. What they’ve done is they have a great pairing, they’ve got a great pair now, and they are losing that which is just about manageable together considering how competitive they are, they’re future-proof and they’re just perfect, they’re great marketing kits. They’re great everything really.

“And then broken that up because they want to take Lewis because he is a seven-time world champion, and he transcends our sport by some margin.

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“Have they let the wrong one go? Or should they have let either go?

“We can debate that all day long. But there’s no point in wasting heartbeats on that. That’s what Ferrari are going to do, and we’ll see what Lewis can do in a Ferrari.

“Will it be an Alonso, Vettel near miss? Or will it be a Michael Schumacher fantastic race-winning championship-winning crusade? We’re a few months away from finding out how that’s going to go.

“But there’s no point in Ferrari looking over their shoulder wondering that. They’ve made that decision that they wanted Lewis in the car, and they’ve got him and they’ll make the most of it.”

READ MORE: Hamilton title rival explains why Ferrari move is the 'right decision'

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