Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is convinced that Lewis Hamilton’s arrival for the F1 2025 season is “more than just a marketing plan.”

But he believes the signing of the seven-time World Champion “is of course a risk” ahead of Hamilton‘s arrival from Mercedes.

Former Ferrari boss identifies ‘risk’ of Lewis Hamilton signing

Hamilton is set to officially start work with Ferrari next month, having announced back in February that he will join the Prancing Horse on a multi-year contract from F1 2025.

Hamilton stands as the most decorated driver in F1 history, having equalled Ferrari icon Michael Schumacher’s long-standing record of seven World Championships in 2020 before becoming the first man to reach 100 grand prix wins and pole positions the following year.

Despite returning to winning ways in F1 2024 with victories in Britain and Belgium, this year proved to be one of the most challenging of Hamilton’s career as he struggled to match Mercedes team-mate George Russell in qualifying conditions.

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It resulted in Hamilton, who will turn 40 on January 7, conceding that he is “not fast anymore” at the penultimate race in Qatar.

That admission prompted the likes of Eddie Jordan, the former F1 team owner, to urge Ferrari to back out of the deal to sign Hamilton.

With the most successful driver in F1 history joining forces with the sport’s most successful team, Hamilton and Ferrari has been described as a potential commercial juggernaut.

Ferrari’s share price rocketed by more than 10 per cent to a new record high on the day Hamilton’s signing was announced last winter, with reports last week claiming Hamilton is poised to sign a personal sponsorship deal with Ferrari partner Celsius.

Rumours last month, meanwhile, indicated that Almave, the non-alcoholic tequila brand co-founded by Hamilton in 2023, could become a Ferrari sponsor next season.

Appearing on Italian station Radio GR Parlamento, Di Montezemolo dismissed fears that commercial reasons are behind Hamilton’s move to Ferrari.

Yet he claimed Hamilton’s arrival brings a clear risk, with the veteran’s relationship with new team-mate Charles Leclerc set to be key in F1 2025.

Di Montezemolo said: “In recent years, Ferrari’s problem had nothing to do with its drivers.

“Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc are strong and Lewis Hamilton is a phenomenon, as is Max Verstappen.

“His joining Ferrari is more than just a marketing plan as he wants to end his career by still winning in the red.

‘The choice of Hamilton is of course a risk on the one hand, because you bring in a champion who has already won so much and wants to continue that at Ferrari.

“On the other hand, however, you have Leclerc, who has never won a title despite all kinds of good races.

“But it will be an interesting year for Ferrari, if we assume for a moment that they can close the gap with McLaren and start the season competitively right from the first race, that they have a car that enables the drivers to win in all conditions – and that they have a clear, communicating management.”

Di Montezemolo’s comments come after Felipe Massa, who famously missed out on the World Championship to Hamilton by a single point in 2008, aired reservations over the incoming Ferrari driver’s age.

Massa likened Hamilton’s situation to that of Michael Schumacher, who failed to recapture his former glories after returning to F1 with Mercedes at the age of 41 in 2010.

Schumacher retired at the end of the 2012 season having failed to add another victory to his tally of 91, with third place at that year’s European Grand Prix in Valencia his best result.

Massa told Brazilian outlet Estadao: “If you asked me if I would hire Hamilton, as the head of Ferrari, as a driver, yes, I would, without a doubt.

“Because of the talent he has. He is one of the most incredible drivers in F1.

“But because of his age, maybe not. Because of his age, if you look at the sport, age matters.

“And we have to understand how much age is weighing on him in this situation or not.

“I’m talking about myself, these days I need to train much more physically than I used to.

“It’s much harder to recover physically after a difficult race or an intense training session.

“Age takes its toll in some areas, that’s normal.

“Age is something that has weighed negatively on several drivers, as it did for Schumacher.”

Reports last week claimed that Hamilton has already paid a secret visit to Ferrari’s Maranello factory despite still being under contract with Mercedes until December 31.

Hamilton’s trip is not believed to be out of the ordinary, with Sainz also visiting Maranello in 2020 before he had formally cut ties with the McLaren team.

After a short winter break, Hamilton is expected to make his on-track debut with Ferrari during what is expected to be a two-day ‘wake-up’ test held at Fiorano on January 21-22.

Ferrari have traditionally staged a private pre-season test with a previous car at Fiorano in January, targeted at getting team and drivers back up to speed ahead of official pre-season running.

Ferrari’s 2025 car, codenamed Project 677, will be launched on February 19, one day after F1’s first-ever season launch event in London.

A three-day pre-season test will be held in Bahrain between February 26-28 before the F1 2025 season commences with the Australian Grand Prix on March 16.

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