Former Formula One driver David Coulthard has likened Lewis Hamilton‘s Ferrari move to a Hollywood script, considering how perfect it is in a real-world scenario. He also pointed out that given Hamilton’s age, the final chapter with Ferrari and F1 could arrive in two or five years.
Hamilton’s bombshell Ferrari move was announced in February last year, which sent the entire F1 driver market into overdrive. After all, a seven-time world champion was moving to the sport’s oldest team with a proud legacy. Planet F1 reported that his arrival at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters on January 20 drew huge attention as fans nearly brought the town to a standstill.
The Briton’s move to Ferrari was driven by his long-time dream to race for the Red team and his quest for a record-breaking eighth championship title. While Hamilton enjoyed immense success over his 12 years with Mercedes, the last three years in the current ground effect era that began in 2022 proved most challenging, and it was only last year that he managed to secure his first race win in the period.
PIERO CRUCIATTI/AFP/Getty Images
F1 veteran Coulthard revealed on RacingNews365’s podcast that Hamilton could have suffered driver fatigue during his last years with Mercedes and was looking for a big change. He said:
“The worrying thing about Lewis in the last couple of years was that he just didn’t seem to be as settled with the performance profile of the car.
“[He might] have had racing driver fatigue – he’s been doing it for so long that he needed a change, which sometimes you need in life and relationships to rediscover that mojo.
“He certainly seems to be and it is a Hollywood script, Lewis going to Ferrari, he looks incredible, is defying his age in terms of how fit he is and comes off the back of being the most successful driver in the history of the sport.”
Coulthard added that while there are many reasons to be excited about the 40-year-old driver’s move to Ferrari, he also anticipates an ending in the upcoming years. He added:
“There are so many things to be excited about, but we just can’t write that final chapter yet, there will be a final chapter and it may be in two years, certainly within the next five.
“There will be a final chapter and then we will be able to make that judgment, so I go into it with an open mind.
“I go into it super excited and with full knowledge that no matter what any of us think, the potential and opportunity lie in his hands, in the hands of one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport.”