If Max Verstappen detects a sceptical reaction when he tells people he won’t be a Formula 1 driver in his forties, it’s because we once heard the same from his peers who later went on to do exactly that.
Fernando Alonso admitted he never expected to carry on racing into his fifth decade. Today another multiple champion driver has joined him.
For a long time, Lewis Hamilton insisted there was no way he would continue racing beyond his thirties. But if he’s celebrating with a (vegan) birthday cake today, it will need room for 40 candles.
Three years ago, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the examples set by ageing athletes such as Alonso and the NFL’s Tom Brady showed that Hamilton could do the same. But although he later decided to race on, he won’t do so with Mercedes.
It’s nearly a year since Hamilton surprised Wolff by telling him he’d signed a deal to join Ferrari in 2025. While the romance of Ferrari had an obvious appeal in the twilight of his career, the decision also showed which team Hamilton felt was best placed to deliver a championship-winning car.
At the time he decided to move, Hamilton had seen Mercedes fail to master F1’s latest rules set for two years running. He said the team hadn’t taken his concerns over their W13 chassis seriously enough. Wolff and technical director James Allison both extended their commitments to the team in January last year, leaving no doubts about stability at the top of the team, but Hamilton still chose to go elsewhere.
He decided to reunite with Frederic Vasseur, whose ART team took Hamilton to the GP2 (now Formula 2) championship in 2006, propelling him into Formula 1 the following year. Vasseur has made a success of his appointment in charge of Ferrari two years ago.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Some questioned Ferrari’s decision to drop Mattia Binotto after 2022, arguing it was a decision foisted upon the racing team by upper management. However Vasseur has proved an astute choice, imposing calmness upon the team while tackling the problem which cost them a clear championship shot when the technical regulations were overhauled three seasons ago.
Since Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was announced, the rent-a-quote brigade have been doing the rounds, supplying clickbait-friendly forecasts of doom. Certainly there is no shortage of examples of multiple champions who failed to take further titles after being lured to the Scuderia: Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Alain Prost and so on.
But Hamilton’s move appears perfectly timed. Ferrari ended 2024 in great shape, winning three of the last nine rounds and finishing a close second in the constructors’ championship. With little changing in the technical regulations for this year, Hamilton can realistically expect his first Ferrari will be capable of winning the championship.
The crucial question is: Can the same be said of the now 40-year-old driver?
Last year was always going to be a peculiar one for Hamilton once he decided it would be his last at Mercedes. While the team made some improvements with its overhauled W15, they still appeared at a loss to understand it for most of the season, and even in the latter stages of the year were somewhat surprised when they stumbled across a working set-up.
Hamilton never clicked with the car over a single flying lap. Worryingly for him and Ferrari, his qualifying performance has slipped since the current generation of technical regulations was introduced. He out-qualified George Russell in their first season together, tied in 2023 and was emphatically beaten last year.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Now he will go up against a driver who has developed a reputation as a one-lap specialist: Charles Leclerc. Although Alonso is demonstrating that a driver well into his forties can still cut it in F1, no one would claim his team mate is at Leclerc’s level.
Whether Hamilton can make an immediate success of his transition to Ferrari will also depend on how quickly he can adjust to his new environment. Pre-season testing in their new car will remain as tightly restricted as last year, and although the team intend to run him in an older car, new rules for this season now cap how much of that he can do as well.
There is also the significant matter of adjusting to a new race engineer after 12 years with ‘Bono’ – the longest and most successful such partnership in F1 history. There were some hiccups on this side of Ferrari’s operation last year, notably in Las Vegas.
Inevitably, whether Hamilton can fight for that record-breaking eighth world championship this year or in future seasons will firstly depend on the quality of the car Ferrari produce. But last year suggested the field had closed up enough that this is a strong possibility, in which case we will soon get a read on whether Hamilton is still at the peak of his powers, or if the shine has started to come off.
But he has already cemented his place as one of the all-time greats of the sport. After today, if Hamilton wins another world championship he will only add to that status. Not merely by joining the hallowed ranks of Ferrari champions, but becoming the first driver to take a title as a 40-year-old since Jack Brabham, almost 60 years ago.
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
