Release date: June 29, 2020
Ferrari’s decision to sign Carlos Sainz doesn’t mean Lewis Hamilton won’t travel to Maranello in 2023, according to Martin Brundle.
Earlier this year, Ferrari announced that 2020 would be Sebastian Vettel’s sixth and final season for Scuderia.
Two days later, after several reports that Hamilton would replace the German, Ferrari revealed Sainz as Charles Leclerc’s 2021 teammate.
However, the Spaniard has only signed a two-year contract and leaves Hamilton open to potentially switch to Ferrari in 2023.
Brundle says it can still happen.
“I doubt that Sainz blocked anything beyond one season,” the former driver, who became a commentator, told Sportsmail.
“If Toto [Wolff] Leaving Mercedes and backing up a bit with the global pandemic problems and cost cutting in F1, the whole scene is changing, then I think his [Hamilton’s] The mind may have to turn to take a look at Ferrari. I would if I were him.
“I talked to him about being dressed in red, standing on the podium in Monza and looking at the crowd in Ferrari overalls. He said, “I love red, I have red in my helmet, it’s the color of passion,” but his answer was, “I’ve been driving for Mercedes throughout my F1 career.”
“Think commercially, he can be an ambassador for this company forever, so it would be a lot to get away from.”
However, Brundle has warned Hamilton that in the long run it may not be the best thing for him to move away from an extremely successful stint at Mercedes to switch to Ferrari.
He used Michael Schumacher as an example.
Schumacher left Ferrari and F1 at the end of the 2006 season, but returned to the starting line-up with Mercedes in 2010.
The German could not win a single Grand Prix with Mercedes and only managed to achieve one podium in his team in three years.
Brundle added: “It would be nice to see, but Michael Schumacher was a Ferrari hero, then he went to Mercedes and cut that connection to Ferrari, and it didn’t work.
“Lewis has to retire from a company he has been involved in throughout his career, and it would take a long time to think about it just to be a Ferrari driver.
“And where’s Ferrari? Will you give him a winning car or will he be frustrated like Fernando Alonso or Sebastian Vettel? “
At 35, Brundle believes that the six-time world champion knows how important it is to take the right career steps, as this could be his last.
“He is aware that he is in the last phase of his career,” he added.
“When I drove in F1, the top guys were able to drive into the 40s and still won. Back then, however, there was less data and the experience counted more. We had no sensors on cars or simulators.
“The cars were animals to drive and the driver was much more involved in setting them up with experience. At the end of the race you had to persuade an F1 car. You had to pay attention to the gears, the transmission, the brakes, the drive shaft, the clutch, etc.
“Experience counts. Now the cars are much stronger, much faster. I think it has become a sport for younger men – hopefully for younger women too, but Lewis doesn’t seem to be aging. But will Lewis do this in his 40s? No, he won’t.
“I see him signing a contract, but he has more to offer. If you see him chiseled in his social media images, you need motivation to do so a season ago.
“I haven’t seen anything that suggests he’s ready to quit, but a lot has happened in the past few months.”
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