Tifosi Elevating Lewis Hamilton to “God” Status Will Help Break Ferrari’s 17-Year-Old Championship Curse

The name Lewis Hamilton has become synonymous with Mercedes over the last 10 years or so. However, his unexpected move to Ferrari for the 2025 Formula 1 season has the potential to reshape the history of the sport. Hamilton, widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in the sport’s history, will now don the iconic red of Ferrari, a team filled with historical significance and prestige in F1. For Hamilton, this move signifies his last attempt to secure an unprecedented eighth world championship. It’s a high-stakes gamble for both him and Ferrari, which Rob Smedley thinks will finally end the 17-year-old championship drought for the Scuderia.

An achievement like that would cement Hamilton’s status as the greatest driver of all time, surpassing the legacies of Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. It would also return the glory to the devoted fans of Ferrari, known as the Tifosi, who haven’t savored championship success since Kimi Raikkonen’s victory in 2007.

Lewis Hamilton can give Ferrari the extra push needed to become a winning machine

In the current ground effect era, Ferrari has established itself as the second-top team behind the mighty Red Bulls. Charles Leclerc started the 2022 season with a promising challenge to Max Verstappen‘s title defense. However, issues like flawed race strategies, and reliability problems meant that his title bid was over before Formula 1 even reached the summer break. Red Bull and Verstappen have since dominated and secured consecutive championships in ’22 and ’23.

Former Ferrari engineer, Rob Smedley believes that Lewis Hamilton could help Ferrari gain that extra little edge that can propel them to become a championship-winning team once again. In a recent appearance on the Formula For Success podcast, Smedley highlighted the impact Hamilton can have over the team. “I think when you win them [Ferrari] over as somebody like Michael Schumacher did, you are a ‘God’. And I think that that will give Lewis the little bit of motivation that perhaps he needs,” he said.

“I think it will be a two-way reciprocal thing because I think that Lewis can elevate the team that final few percent. And that’s all it ever needs right? I mean, if you look at Red Bull when it was struggling or Mercedes when it was struggling, Ferrari, you know, just before we started to win all those championships. It’s got all the right ingredients, it just needs that final few percent to elevate it which Lewis can do. You know, he can bring that final few percent to just quicken everybody’s pace just that tiny bit, that’s all you need and then turn them into a winning machine,“ he concluded.

It’s not just Rob Smedley either, many including the Former F1 driver, Giancarlo Fisichella also believe that Lewis can win his 8th championship with Ferrari.

Fisichella gives Hamilton a 40% chance of winning a championship with Ferrari

Fisichella, who once shared the track with the likes of Michael Schumacher, believes Hamilton’s potential move to Ferrari could reshape the state of F1 greatness. Speaking about the potential 8th championship for Lewis Hamilton, Fisichella told OLBG, “I think Lewis Hamilton has a good chance of winning an eighth title with Ferrari.”

He estimated Hamilton’s odds at around 30% to 40%, taking into account the unpredictability of F1 racing. “It’s difficult to say when, but I think he’s got a 30% or 40% chance of fighting for the championship. Lewis Hamilton winning an eighth world title would make him the greatest driver of all time until someone else wins more titles than him!” he added.

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How excited are you to witness a new era of Formula 1 with Lewis Hamilton in the scarlet red colors of Ferrari?