Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari is one of the biggest stories of the 2025 season, as fans hope he will bring success back to Maranello.
Ferrari has not won a Drivers’ title since Kimi Raikkonen crossed the line in Sao Paulo in 2007 to win it by one point. His main championship rival at the time? Lewis Hamilton.
The Briton went on to win his first in 2008 while Ferrari won in the Constructors’ Championship, with Hamilton following it up with another six titles during his dominant era at Mercedes.
Hamilton is now going for an eighth title with the move to Ferrari, which would put him ahead of Michael Schumacher and cement his status as the all-time greatest F1 driver. It would be an impressive feat for Hamilton, not least because it would be done having gone to three different teams and achieved across four different eras of car.
While a lot of the fanfare is centred on a potential eighth title, former Toro Rosso F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari thinks Hamilton is not out to win races when speaking on the After Lap podcast.
Jaime Alguersuari says Lewis Hamilton not at Ferrari to win races
After turning 40 years old in January, Hamilton is nearing the end of his professional career considering most drivers stop in the mid-30s.
Hamilton was effectively in a negative spiral during the latter years of his Mercedes career, and his drive at Ferrari represents a fresh challenge.
Alguersuari believes this period is more about enjoying F1 for Hamilton, considering he is not under the same pressure as Fernando Alonso or Max Verstappen to perform.
“Now Hamilton is at Ferrari, I don’t think he is there to win, I think he’s there to have fun. I even believe that he is more or less considering retirement because that’s not far away,” said Alguersuari.
“I see Hamilton is very relaxed and he does other things in his life, he doesn’t see Leclerc being faster than him as the end of the world. I don’t see it like Fernando Alonso, who if he doesn’t win, that’s the end. He’s also not like Max who is on the simulator for hours when he doesn’t win. He is more relaxed and on another level.”
Is Lewis Hamilton facing pressure to win titles at Ferrari?
It might be easy to look at Hamilton’s stats and say he has not got anything left to prove in F1. He leads the all-time win list (105 victories), poles (104) and podiums (202).
The move to Ferrari is all about reinvigorating that lust for competition that is clearly still in Hamilton. At 40 years old he doesn’t have kids, similar to Alonso who has still managed to stay competitive at 43, so there is no extra burden.
Hamilton already has life after F1 set up with his various business ventures, but there is an important point about legacy that is on the line with his Ferrari move.
Sebastian Vettel and Alonso have all tried and failed to bring success to the team, now Hamilton represents the last grasp of that generation of drivers who could win a title.
Whether that brings pressure is something we will find out during the season, but it’s not like he’s joined the Ferrari soap opera to have some fun before making an early exit.
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