As questions mount over Lewis Hamilton’s underwhelming start to life at Ferrari, three-time Le Mans winner Allan McNish has stepped in with a compelling explanation for the iconic team’s decision to bring the seven-time world champion onboard.
Hamilton, still seeking his first grand prix podium in red, has faced a tough adaptation period with Ferrari’s SF-25. While he claimed a sprint race win in China, the 40-year-old is yet to finish in the top three on a Sunday. In contrast, teammate Charles Leclerc has already secured four podiums and sits 16 points ahead in the standings.
Some fans and pundits have begun to question whether replacing the younger and in-form Carlos Sainz with Hamilton was the right call. Sainz was entering the peak of his career, while Hamilton is now navigating the challenges of adjusting to a completely new team culture and technical setup — one vastly different from his time at Mercedes.
But according to McNish, the answer lies beyond short-term results.
“Why did Ferrari sign Lewis? Clearly, from a marketing point of view, it is gold,” McNish said on the RacingNews365 podcast.
“But on the other side, it’s a very expensive marketing project if it’s not about racing — and ultimately, it was about racing.”
The former F1 driver stressed that Hamilton was brought in not just as a star name, but as a vital piece in Ferrari’s long-term plan to return to championship-winning ways.
“It was about bringing that experience and talent — someone who’s won multiple world championships recently — to feed into a system that maybe felt it was lacking that edge.”
McNish believes Ferrari needed someone who understands how to win titles in today’s Formula 1 environment — something it has arguably missed since Sebastian Vettel’s departure in 2020. And while Hamilton has yet to deliver big results consistently, McNish insists patience is key.
“You can’t expect him to walk in and just dominate. He’s not at the beginning of his career — he’s working off experience now. But in tough scenarios, like when he won the British Grand Prix last year, he can still pull it out. And let’s not forget — he has a very quick teammate.”
With Ferrari aiming to end a 15-year championship drought, Hamilton’s true value may not be measured in immediate podiums, but in the cultural and technical evolution he helps instill behind the scenes.
