Former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone believes that Lewis Hamilton will have “enemies” during his stint with Ferrari, even if he is successful.
After 12 years at Mercedes, where Hamilton reigned supreme and reached a record-equalling seven world titles, the Brit announced he’d be quitting the Silver Arrows last year and that he’d make a blockbuster move to the Scuderia.
Partnering with poster boy Charles Leclerc and driving for a different team will be a strange change of scenery for Hamilton – and one that Ecclestone, who founded the Formula One Group in 1987, fears will earn him internal adversaries and won’t last long.
“Even if Lewis does well, there’ll still be a lot of enemies because he has suddenly arrived. I don’t think Lewis will get the same attention at Ferrari,” Ecclestone told The Telegraph. “Firstly, the team are happy with Charles Leclerc, his team-mate. Leclerc speaks their language [he’s fluent in Italian], so they’ll be looking after him.”
Leclerc has long been favoured at Ferrari, having joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2016 before a stint with Sauber saw him oust Kimi Raikkonen to partner Sebastian Vettel. But now, as another former world champion sits in the seat next to Leclerc, Ecclestone is worried Hamilton won’t be welcomed with open arms.
When asked if age – Hamilton being 40, Leclerc being 27 – may contribute to this treatment, Ecclestone admitted: “I have my theory about this. It’s not the age with drivers. It’s how long they have been doing the same thing.
“I have thought with Lewis, ‘He’s getting tired. He has lost motivation’. If he had never won a world championship, it might be different, because then there would be an incentive to win one. But he has won seven.
“Lewis gets himself up front in a way where you can dislike him. How a guy who has won a few world titles and has a few dollars in the bank can dress the way he dresses – I’m not a fan of that.
“He has a lot of talent as a driver. As much as people credit him with? No, but still enough to win races. I don’t know why he does all this other nonsense. He needs to get out of the music business and whatever else.”
With all these criticisms, Ecclestone fears that Hamilton, whose estimated £100million contract is expected to see him driving until at least the first season of the new 2026 regulations, will not be too far away from calling it time on his career.
“He won’t last that long,” Ecclestone admits. “Piero Ferrari, who has taken him there, still thinks they’ve done the right thing. I hope they have. I hope they haven’t just jumped in and end up wishing they hadn’t.”