Yesterday at 09:50
Three-time Le Mans winner Allan McNish has answered a striking
question in Formula 1 this season: why did Ferrari sign Lewis
Hamilton? It is a question which has been asked on an increasing
basis over recent races, with the seven-time world champion still
searching for a first official podium in red. Sprint victory was
claimed in China, but a top three in a grand prix continues to
elude him. Hamilton has required significant time adjusting to not
only Ferrari's SF-25, but also to the team's culture and general
work ethic, all which have proven to be staggeringly different to
what he experienced with Mercedes. As a result, consistent big
results have not been possible, whilst Charles Leclerc has secured
four podiums and 16 points more than the 40-year-old. Some have
questioned why Carlos Sainz was removed for Hamilton, given the
Spaniard was entering the prime years of his racing career. Speed
has been shown on the odd, rare occasion; however, the 105-time
race winner still boasts more experience than all but one driver on
the current grid – Fernando Alonso. With that in mind, McNish is
certain Hamilton was signed by Ferrari to bring the vast experience
of how to win titles, something it has missed since Sebastian
Vettel departed at the end of 2020. Discussing Hamilton trying to
improve how Ferrari works, McNish said on a recent episode of the
RacingNews365 podcast: "Yeah, that's a very valid point. Because I
would come back to, why did Ferrari sign Lewis? Clearly, from a
marketing point of view, it is gold. "But on the other side of it,
it's a very expensive marketing project if it's not about racing,
and ultimately, it was about racing. "It was about bringing, I
would say that experience and talent and someone that has won
multiple world championships with another team, and also not in
ancient past, but latterly, and to feed off that, because that was
an area that they maybe felt that they were a bit weaker. "But it
does take time, and you can't expect him in that environment to
walk in and just dominate, because it's not. And, you know, we have
to also, I think be very understanding that Lewis is not at the
beginning of his Formula 1 career, he's working on his
experiences. "He's working on the understanding of all of those
races, how he won them. And that's where, I think, when you get
into a difficult scenario, like when he won the British Grand Prix
last year. He can still pull it out, but he does have a quick
team-mate."