1980 world champion Alan Jones believes Lewis Hamilton wants to “start sticking his pinky finger out” after a poor start to F1 2024, while raising serious questions about the price tag for his future move to Ferrari.
In what turned out to be an incredibly hectic offseason, Hamilton contributed immensely by announcing that he would leave Mercedes at the end of F1 2024, the team he has raced with record luck since 2013, in order to register. Ferrari.
But while Hamilton strives to succeed at Mercedes, that project is off to a shaky start, with teammate George Russell winning the war within the team on one lap and in the Hamilton race in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
That has led 13-time grand prix winner David Coulthard to suspect Hamilton is already “mentally” at Ferrari, a long-term driver and team combination that Jones is suffering to see benefits for Ferrari beyond a monetary boost.
“I don’t know if Hamilton’s move to Ferrari will be the end of it all and it will be all Ferrari needs,” Jones told the Herald Sun.
“Okay, it’s smart because when he signed for Ferrari, his percentage value went up to about $20 billion or so.
“But at the end of the day, Lewis wants to start taking his finger off the fuel a little bit, frankly. George Russell is now starting to hide it a little bit most of the time and the longer this goes on, the more he will play with it.
“Again, the more you go to fashion shows and the harder you push yourself all over the place, that’s not going to go well for you either.
“To be honest, I don’t think it’s [the right resolution for Ferrari]. In terms of expanding its percentage price, yes. But I just don’t think he’s going to be the [answer].
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Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, has not won since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Mercedes’ struggles to find a rival capable of fighting for wins and titles in F1’s ground-effect era have played a major role in this barren period.
However, Jones is interested in Hamilton in this regard, suggesting that Hamilton’s summit is over.
“I think so,” Jones said when asked if Hamilton’s most productive could be him.
Hamilton hopes to improve his fortunes at the next F1 2024 battleground, at Albert Park in Melbourne, where Hamilton won the Australian Grand Prix twice in 2008 and 2015.
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