Eddie Jordan backtracks on criticism of Ferrari for signing Lewis Hamilton

Eddie Jordan has backtracked on his opinion that Ferrari shouldn’t have signed Lewis Hamilton, conceding he's warmed to the idea that they've made the right decision after his first appearance at Maranello. 

Last year, Jordan suggested Ferrari should have kept Carlos Sainz alongside Charles Leclerc in 2025, rather than signing Hamitlon.

Ferrari narrowly missed out on the 2024 F1 constructors’ title to McLaren, finishing just 14 points behind.

Jordan slammed Ferrari for making the “suicidal” decision to replace Sainz with Hamilton, claiming signing the seven-time world champion would impact the harmony within the team.

In the latest episode of the Formula for Success podcast, Jordan seemingly changed his opinion on Hamilton to Ferrari and was in awe of the 40-year-old’s first appearance at Maranello.

“We heard recently about the crash, which is unfortunate because I also saw the photograph of the many, many, many thousands of the Tifosi that turned up to take photographs, wishing him well just on a little reconnaissance trip with the car,” Jordan said.

“So. you can imagine what it’s going to be like on Grand Prix day. I think he will be a huge draw.

“And it’ll be iconic, that photograph will be used for many, many, many years to come because of the way it is, and it depends, of course, [on] how he gets on, but at the same time I think the photograph will be used.

“I think he’s not just box office for Formula 1, I think he’s box office everywhere, particularly in the Americas, in Asia, we know about Europe. I’m totally warm to the idea that Ferrari, for all sorts of reasons, particularly commercial, made the right decision.”

Jordan hails “iconic” Hamilton photograph

The former BBC F1 pundit lavished praise on Hamilton for his “eye-catching” first photograph in front of Enzo Ferrari’s old home in Maranello.

The photograph broke the record for the most number of likes for an F1-related post on Instagram.

Jordan expects that photograph of Hamilton will stand the test of time and be shown for many years.

“What I thought was unbelievably eye-catching, that photograph of Lewis Hamilton in that coat, it just depicts why I think Ferrari went for him,” Jordan added.

“He’s box office. Absolutely. And please check, I think you will find as close to 6 million likes about the way he looked on his appearance in that very stylish photograph.

“And it’ll be iconic, that photograph will be used for many, many, many years to come because of the way it is, and it depends, of course, how he gets on, but at the same time I think the photograph will be used.”