Lewis Hamilton has his sights beyond simply winning his eighth Formula 1 championship having joined Ferrari over the winter.
After becoming the most successful driver in F1 history during his time with McLaren and Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton has signed for Ferrari to cement his legacy at the sport’s most iconic team.
During a recent press conference after his official unveiling at Maranello, Hamilton said: “If I was fortunate enough to win another title, which is obviously what we’re setting out to do, I don’t see myself stopping.”
However, Hamilton will be well aware of how difficult achieving that eighth title is going to be.
His new teammate Charles Leclerc was exceptionally fast last season and were it not for Ferrari’s sluggish start and a small upgrade misstep at the Spanish Grand Prix, he would have given Max Verstappen a run for his money.
Hamilton’s first team McLaren are the current constructors’ champions and appear to be on the correct trajectory to continue improving throughout this ruleset.
Ferrari’s senior hierarchy want Hamilton to be their number one driver, but whether that’s possible or the best solution for the team in their question to win both championships is yet to be seen.
Christian Danner, speaking on the Motorsport Magazin YouTube channel, has his doubts about whether Hamilton can emulate Michael Schumacher’s legendary spell with the Scuderia.
Serious ‘doubts’ over Lewis Hamilton’s chances to copy Michael Schumacher at Ferrari
Danner was asked about Hamilton’s chances in 2025 and said: “I have my doubts that it will work because [of] the superiority of a car like Mercedes had when you think back to the beginning of the hybrid era, he won’t have in a Ferrari.
“That means it will be a pretty close tussle with Leclerc internally but also with everyone else and that’s why I don’t think it will be a walk in the park like Schumacher won at Ferrari.
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“He built it up over the years, had an unbelievable technical team and as a result, a really superior car in every respect.
“As a basis, I think that will stay with him and that’s why you can have doubts about whether it will all work out.”
Hamilton has a close relationship with team principal Frederic Vasseur that will help him quickly adapt to life in Maranello.
Jerome d’Ambrosio and Loic Serra also moving from Mercedes to Ferrari will aid Hamilton’s acclimatisation, but as Danner says, Ferrari are unlikely to ever have the same level of dominance that they enjoyed when Schumacher was part of the team.
Christian Danner discusses Bernie Ecclestone’s recent comments on Lewis Hamilton
Bernie Ecclestone recently spoke about Hamilton’s move and admitted that he doesn’t believe he’ll be capable of winning a championship at Ferrari.
The former F1 boss thinks he’ll quit after two seasons and when this was put to Danner, he explained: “Well, Bernie is of course a guy who has a basic sarcasm that shouldn’t be underestimated.
“But looking back, Bernie and Hamilton never really matched because Bernie is a personality from a completely different time who did what he wanted and what he thought was right.
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“Also all this, let’s say slightly woke and human rights commitments and so on, that didn’t really interest Bernie.
“He said, ‘You drive cars and the rest – namely money – that’s my department’, and the other stuff doesn’t interest anyone, we race.
“These days, you can discuss whether it’s the right attitude but Bernie is just like that and that’s why I’m not at all surprised that he said straight away about Hamilton, he’ll have had enough in two years.
“That could happen, Bernie isn’t that far from the real assessment, but the real assessment, the dig at Hamilton, shouldn’t be underestimated.”
Hamilton has spent his entire career trying to prove people wrong and Ecclestone’s comments are unlikely to bother him.
He’ll be desperate to prove to Danner that his doubts are unfounded and return Ferrari to their former glory.
