Hamilton has job on hands
LEWIS HAMILTON will need to go above and beyond to beat Charles Leclerc next season, according to former Ferrari driver Giancarlo Fisichella.
The seven-time world champion will join the Italian constructor when the 2024 season ends following a glittering 12-year partnership with Mercedes.
“It is going to be tough,” Fisichella said.
“They are two amazing drivers, two quick drivers, especially in the qualifying sessions.
“Charles is always on top, he has scored a lot of pole positions.
“He has been integrated into the team since a few years ago, so for Lewis it will be not easy to beat him.
“I think he needs to be very focused on it… have concentration… spend a lot of time in the factory, Maranello, with the mechanics.
“But it will be easy for Lewis to get into the team because the atmosphere in Ferrari is great and the people are so nice, so you feel straight away in the family.”
With Hamilton leaving Mercedes at the end of the year, Toto Wolff faces a major dilemma in the driver market.
In George Russell he has a ready-made new team leader. But with so many drivers out of contract come the end of the year, the options to be his team-mate are plentiful. Assessing the candidates to replace Hamilton, Fisichella (below) said: “Well there are a lot of rumours.
“One is the new rumour about Max Verstappen... could move from Red Bull to Mercedes.
“But I think maybe it’s just rumours because Max has – at the moment – the best car, is winning and has a good salary.
“There is no reason to change to another team like Mercedes, which is not the best team. It looks the third or the fourth best team.
“So apart from Max I would say there are a couple of names like Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo, but also like Kimi Antonelli.
“If I were the team principal, my first option, for me, would be Alonso because I know him, he’s a great driver, he’s still so quick, he has a lot of experience.
“I don’t know if he would be happy to sign a contract just for one year.
“This is maybe the question mark.
“If it’s not Alonso, also Antonelli could be one of the options because this year he will be in Formula Two, he’s a Mercedes driver. “He’s quick, he won everyone… obviously he would be a rookie.”