Lewis Hamilton’s shocking move to Ferrari is still making ripples in F1 town. Months ago (in February 2024, to be exact), the Brit announced his exit from Mercedes despite having signed a 2-year extension on his contract with the team. Despite that, he decided to move to Maranello for a multi-year stint with the Scuderia as Charles Leclerc‘s partner. Now, there is no doubt that this move is a leap of faith on Lewis’ part. The 39-year-old is leaving a seat at one of the topmost F1 squads where he has spent 12 years to go drive for Ferrari. And Red Bull Chief Advisor Helmut Marko feels that Lewis’ decision might backfire.

As the Formula 1 world is currently bracing for the 2026 regulations that will change the existing standings, the teams are out to secure the best minds to help their campaigns. Among the different squads, Aston Martin‘s name has come up several times because they have hired some officials from rival teams to develop their plans to tackle the new FIA rules. Now, Ferrari’s chassis technical director Enrico Cardile has left the team to join AMR as well. As per Helmut Marko, this might play a big role in deciding whether Lewis Hamilton’s move to the Scuderia next year will be successful or not.

Marko’s own team, Red Bull, is going to lose its Chief Technical Officer, Adrian Newey, in 2025. There are some speculations that Ferrari is actively trying to take up the aero-wizard who has won 12 World Constructors’ Championships for his three previous employers (Red Bull, McLaren, and Williams). Speaking on the success of Lewis Hamilton’s tenure at Ferrari depending on Newey’s arrival and Cardile’s exit, Marko said to Oe24, “I can’t say. That will be exciting too. Ferrari has lost an important man in chassis boss Cardile. Let’s wait and see what happens with Adrian Newey. He has some top offers, including from England, and can decide where he goes.”

While Marko is unsure if Lewis Hamilton would be making a mistake shifting to Ferrari when the team has lost key personnel such as Enrico Cardille, the 7-time World Champion feels differently. After his most recent win for Mercedes at the British GP, he considered the question of whether he would want to move to Ferrari now that he is winning races with the Silver Arrows.

Lewis Hamilton has no regrets about Ferrari’s decision

In 2013, Lewis Hamilton joined Mercedes and in the following year, he won his second World Championship thanks to his team. Since then, the Stevenage native has maintained a long relationship with the Silver Arrows where he has even seen a couple of teammates (Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas) come and go. Breaking the bond of 12 years, Hamilton will move to an entirely new team when he turns 40 next year. Perhaps, this major gamble is simply because the Briton wants his 8th World Championship title.

However, Mercedes has shown in this season that it is capable of giving Hamilton a race-winning car. Only last week, he finished at the top spot in his home race at the Silverstone Circuit. This made some people question whether Lewis regrets his decision to move to Ferrari now that Mercedes is competent again. To this, Hamilton said, “No, not at all.” The 39-year-old had previously admitted that it had been his dream to drive for Ferrari once in his F1 career as the legacy squad is the oldest and most successful in Formula 1 history.

But legacy alone will not make Ferrari win races next year. For the improvement of its campaign, the Italian outfit needs to rope in Adrian Newey at all costs. The Scuderia boss Frederic Vasseur even said he would use Hamilton’s example to lure the 565-year-old engineer to Maranello. Do you think Fred will succeed in his quest to bring Newey to the Ferrari headquarters? Share your opinions in the comments below.