Lewis Hamilton has been urged to stop his colourful non-racing forays by Bernie Ecclestone – with the former Formula One supremo labelling Hamilton’s interests as “nonsense.”
Hamilton, the seven-time F1 world champion, has made a highly-anticipated £50m-a-year switch to Ferrari this year after 12 years and six titles at Mercedes.
The British driver, now 40, is desperate to win an eighth world title which would put him above Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher in the all-time championship list.
Yet Ecclestone, who has had his run-ins in recent years with Hamilton, believes Hamilton will not even last the length of his two-year contract at the Scuderia and made his feelings clear on the Brit’s fashion choices and other ventures.
“Lewis gets himself up front in a way where you can dislike him,” Ecclestone, 94, told The Telegraph.
“How a guy who has won a few world titles and has a few dollars in the bank can dress the way he dresses? I’m not a fan of that.
“He has a lot of talent as a driver. As much as people credit him with? No, but still enough to win races. I don’t know why he does all this other nonsense. He needs to get out of the music business and whatever else.”
Asked further about Hamilton’s two-year deal at Ferrari, Ecclestone replied: “He won’t last that long. Piero Ferrari, who has taken him there, still thinks they’ve done the right thing.
“I hope they have. I hope they haven’t just jumped in and end up wishing they hadn’t.”
Hamilton condemned Ecclestone two years ago and insisted the 94-year-old should not be given a platform after the ex-F1 supremo stated he would “take a bullet” for Russian president Vladimir Putin a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Yet Ecclestone has now theorised about Hamilton’s age, with only three drivers in F1 history having won a world championship in their 40s – and the last time came 59 years ago with Sir Jack Brabham.
“I don’t think Lewis will get the same attention at Ferrari,” Ecclestone says. “Firstly, the team are happy with Charles Leclerc, his team-mate. Leclerc speaks their language [he’s fluent in Italian], so they’ll be looking after him.
“Even if Lewis does well, there’ll still be a lot of enemies, because he has suddenly arrived.
“It’s not the age with drivers, it’s how long they have been doing the same thing.
“I have thought with Lewis, ‘He’s getting tired. He has lost motivation.’ If he had never won a world championship, it might be different, because then there would be an incentive to win one. But he has won seven.”
Hamilton’s worth to Ferrari, should he win a world title this year, could be over £100m and he has spent recent weeks acclimatising to his new surroundings with a series of tests in Fiorano and Barcelona.
The British driver will be present at the 10-team season launch event at The O2 Arena in London on Tuesday 18 February before Ferrari launch their 2025 car a day later in Maranello.
The official pre-season test is in Bahrain from 26-28 February before Hamilton’s first race in Ferrari red, the Australian Grand Prix, on 16 March.
