The failed Ferrari F1 superstar stints Lewis Hamilton will seek to avoid

Lewis Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari is one of the most hyped storylines in F1 history.

Since the seven-time world champion’s blockbuster move from Mercedes to Ferrari was announced last February, the F1 world has been salivating at the prospect of two of the sport’s biggest and most iconic names joining forces. 

After narrowly missing out on the constructors’ championship - and what would have been a first world title since 2008 - to McLaren last term, the ambition for Hamilton is clear; help Ferrari end their long trophy drought.

Hamilton would only further cement his status as one of the greatest of all time if he could bring a drivers’ crown back to Maranello and become the first driver since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 to do so.

Such an achievement would also see the 40-year-old clinch a record-breaking eighth world title, a feat which would put Hamilton one championship clear of the legendary Michael Schumacher, who secured five of his seven crowns with Ferrari.

The narratives are tantalisingly laid out, but turning such goals into reality is never as straightforward as it appears on paper. Two fellow multiple world champions tried, and failed, to do so before Hamilton.

Here’s how Hamilton's superstar predecessors got on at F1’s most famous team.

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso joined Ferrari after an unsuccessful two-season stint at Renault in the hope of becoming the driver to help the Scuderia return to winning ways.

Having replaced Raikkonen, Alonso’s Ferrari stint began with an immediate near-title success.

The Spaniard managed to overhaul a 47-point deficit to Sebastian Vettel and took the championship lead with victory in South Korea. However, he was pipped by the Red Bull driver in agonising fashion at the final race in Abu Dhabi when he got stuck behind Renault’s Vitaly Petrov and could not finish higher than seventh after a strategic error by the team.

Two years later, Alonso was back in title contention and once again up against his nemesis Vettel. Just like in 2010, the title fight went down to the wire and Alonso was on the end of a frustrating defeat influenced by fine margins.

Alonso had led the championship for much of the season despite having the fourth-fastest car. A late season purple patch from Red Bull and Vettel saw the German snatch the title away from Alonso by three points at a rain-socked title-decider in Brazil.

Had Alonso not been taken out by an out-of-control Romain Grosjean at Spa, or hit by Raikkonen at Suzuka, he would have been world champion for a third time. Alonso also finished runner-up in 2013 but on this occasion Vettel and Red Bull had a dominant package and eased to the title in the second half of the season.

After becoming disillusioned with Ferrari’s failure to provide him with a competitive car during a dreadful 2014 campaign, and several championship near misses, Alonso quit Ferrari two years before the end of his contract to return to McLaren.

His replacement was four-time world champion Vettel, who arrived at Maranello off the back of winning four championships across the previous five years.

Sebastian Vettel

Vettel joined Ferrari determined to succeed where Alonso had not and follow in the footsteps of his childhood hero Schumacher by winning the title with the Prancing Horse.

Things got off to a bright enough start in 2015 as Vettel claimed three victories and quickly established himself as Ferrari’s number one driver, but he would have to wait until a regulation shake-up in 2017 before the team was in a position to challenge for the championship.

Ferrari had a faster car than Mercedes for much of the 2017 season and Vettel held the early advantage as he and Hamilton regularly traded blows. A moment of madness in Baku saw Vettel throw away his chances of a win by pulling up alongside Hamilton and ramming his title rival under a Safety Car, earning himself a 10-second stop-go penalty.

Hamilton enjoyed a supreme run of form after the summer break and Vettel’s title hopes suffered a massive blow when he was taken out in Singapore, a race which proved a key turning point in 2017. Back-to-back reliability failures in Malaysia and Japan all but ended Vettel’s hopes before Hamilton wrapped up title number four in Mexico City.

2018 promised so much for Ferrari and Vettel but he once again would come out second-best to Hamilton and Mercedes, despite Ferrari holding a significant car advantage for much of the year.

Vettel was undone by a series of team and driver errors, the biggest of which occurred on home soil in Germany when he crashed out from the lead and Hamilton completed a miraculous comeback victory from 14th. Hamilton was once again in imperious form after the summer break, while Vettel continued to crack in high-pressure moments. It was another golden opportunity that went begging.

The emergence of Ferrari protege Charles Leclerc in 2019 proved to be Vettel’s downfall at the team. In the end, he was effectively forced out due to a combination of Leclerc’s starring performances and his own nosediving form, which paved the way for a split and Carlos Sainz's arrival in 2021.

Four years later and it will be Hamilton’s turn to try and change Ferrari’s destiny. Will the Briton fare better and make it third time lucky for the Scuderia?