Despite Lewis Hamilton struggling in the Mercedes in 2023 and 2024, Helmut Marko warns that the Brit could easily return to his 2021 performance, with Ferrari.
With a new era of Lewis Hamilton on the horizon there are a multitude of questions hanging over the seven-time world champions possible performance.
While some believe that the glory days have passed for the 40-year-old, others see this move as a new lease of life. Helmut Marko is one of those who warns against underestimating Hamilton.
Marko has seen the rise of Lewis Hamilton and was part of the Red Bull machinery that ended the Brit’s dream of an eighth world championship. However, he still sees Hamilton as a threat to Verstappen’s 2025 title defence.
He said, “If Hamilton is motivated, he can continue where he left off in 2021. The race to catch up that he delivered back then was impressive. We’ll know after the tests when we see how good the Ferrari is. In any case, Max is the best driver.”
Prospective troubles
Marko did not hold back in his criticism of Hamilton, though. He cited one of his biggest weaknesses, which Hamilton would need to overcome.
He said, “Hamilton has to get qualifying right. That was never his strength. If he loses two or three-tenths to Leclerc, he always has to work his way up a few places on the grid. That puts a strain on the tyres.”
Hamilton was out-qualified by former teammate George Russell an impressive 18 times in 2024. Though Hamilton often made up the places on race day, the lower qualifying position often left him on the back foot strategically.
Ferrari is going to be a different story with Charles Leclerc often praised for his one-lap pace. Although Ferrari optimised their car for Sunday over Saturday in 2024, he is still yet to lose a qualifying head-to-head in his Formula 1 campaign.
Marko also noted that beyond Hamilton’s qualifying performance, Ferrari needed to produce a car capable of fighting at the front.
He claimed, “The two race teams [McLaren and Ferrari] had the best base for their cars last season and were able to perform well on most circuits. Even if he has a good Ferrari and we build a mediocre Red Bull for Max. I would put my money on Max.”
With testing beginning next week, it won’t be long before we begin to get a picture of the Ferrari’s capabilities. Red Bull will also want to hit the ground running after facing struggles throughout the middle of 2024.
So far there have been positive reports coming from Maranello, with Ferrari replacing the majority of the SF-24 car for 2025. However, they are reluctant to say anything before seeing how it performs in Bahrain.
Feature Image Credit: Scuderia Ferrari via X
