08/06/2025 16:10
Head of the Audi F1 project Mattia Binotto has suggested Ferrari
would have benefited from signing Lewis Hamilton several years ago,
rather than picking him up towards the tail end of his career.
Hamilton joined Ferrari at the start of the 2025 campaign after
ending his highly successful 12-year stint with Mercedes. The
seven-time champion has struggled for pace at the Italian squad and
is still awaiting his first trip to the podium in red. Binotto
became the team principal at Ferrari in 2019 when Hamilton was at
the height of his success with Mercedes. The Italian suggested it
was a better period for the squad to attempt to lure Hamilton, who
turned 40 earlier this year. "Hamilton is of a certain age,"
Binotto acknowledged. "Ferrari got him when he was already at the
end of his career. "Ideally, they would have been able to get him a
few years earlier." Ferrari has not enjoyed the strong start to the
campaign it was hoping for and has been unable to contest against
front-runners McLaren for race wins. But Binotto, who worked for
Ferrari for over two decades before ascending to the team principal
role, has backed his former team to turn around its disappointing
form. "As an outsider, perhaps one shouldn't even judge," he said.
"It's clear that the performance on the track and the results are
not good right now. "But I know every single member of that team
very well and I know that they are good, strong and capable. "They
will know how to improve the car and do well in the future. And I
think Ferrari can take some satisfaction for this year."
