Lewis Hamilton tipped to be ‘catalyst for good things to happen’ at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton has been tipped to be a “catalyst for good things to happen” when he joins Ferrari in F1 2025.

That is according to former F1 engineer Rob Smedley, who believes Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari could be transformative for the team’s fortunes.

The seven-time world champion will complete a blockbuster switch to Ferrari next season after deciding to quit Mercedes.

And Smedley, who worked at Ferrari between 2004 and 2013, reckons the Italian outfit will “raise their game” once Hamilton joins.

“I’ve got a load of confidence for when Lewis gets there, I think he is going to be a catalyst for good things to happen,” Smedley told the Formula For Success podcast.

“I think that the team will embrace him. I think that if you go there with a bit of a reputation like what Lewis has got for being able to deliver, the team will get around him. The team will definitely get around him.

“Then Lewis has got to do his part as well. Lewis has definitely got to play his part in endearing himself and embracing the culture of the team, and not like being on the periphery of that. And if he can do that, they will love him. Honestly, he will walk on water.

“I think the team will now feel they’ll just be able to raise their game by another one or two per cent because they’ll feel that confidence, right?

“This is a seven-times World Champion coming into your team, having chosen your team over, effectively, a team he’s been at for, let’s call it, all of his life if you take the engine part of it, suddenly he’s walking away from all of that and all of that legacy, and he’s choosing you guys.

“That gives you a massive boost of confidence. And if everybody works that half 1% harder or smarter, then you know, great things can happen.”

Smedley, who was Felipe Massa’s long-time race engineer at Ferrari before following the Brazilian to Williams, reckons the right decision has been made for Hamilton and Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington to part ways after 12 years.

“When a driver like Lewis chooses your team. When a seven-times World Champion chooses your team to come and work at your team, I don’t think he needs to bring like an entourage with him,” Smedley explained.

“And I always spoke about this publicly, both for Lewis himself, I think, but also for people like Bono, I think that’s quite a dangerous game to play to kind of follow the driver around.

“Because if the driver falls out of favour or the driver decides that after one year this is not for him, you know, he can’t take the entourage with him. So I think that Lewis has done the right thing.

“He’d obviously have ‘Team LH’ around him, his management and trainers and people like that, but, but I think trying to take engineers would have been a bit of a misstep.”