Former Formula 1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone has taken another swipe at the series’ most successful driver, Lewis Hamilton, predicting his high-profile move to Ferrari will end in failure.
Hamilton began testing for Ferrari last month after joining the team from Mercedes. But Ecclestone doubts he will reach the end of his second year at the team.
“He won’t last that long,” Ecclestone told The Telegraph. “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.”
Ecclestone claimed Hamilton will play second fiddle to Charles Leclerc, his new team mate, who has raced for Ferrari since 2019.
“I don’t think Lewis will get the same attention at Ferrari,” said Ecclestone. “Firstly, the team are happy with Charles Leclerc, his team mate. Leclerc speaks their language, so they’ll be looking after him.
“Even if Lewis does well, there’ll still be a lot of enemies, because he has suddenly arrived.”
Hamilton turned 40 in the off-season and has raced continuously in F1 since making his debut in 2007. Ecclestone believes that will have an effect on his motivation.
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“I have my theory about this,” he said. “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.”
The 94-year-old, who was replaced as F1 CEO eight years ago, has clashed repeatedly with Hamilton in recent years. Ecclestone’s 2020 claim “black people are more racist than what white people are” was described by Hamilton as an “ignorant and uneducated comment.”
Ecclestone came to the defence of his former driver Nelson Piquet after he used a racist term while referring to Hamilton. He later made comments about the 2008 season which prompted Felipe Massa to bring a court case aimed at overturning the result of the championship, which Hamilton won.
Hamilton’s attire and interest in music drew further criticism from Ecclestone in his latest interview. “Lewis gets himself up front in a way where you can dislike him,” he said.
“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.”
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