The ‘underestimated’ Mercedes theory for Lewis Hamilton as ‘sad’ Ferrari concern raised

1996 World Champion Damon Hill pondered whether Lewis Hamilton “underestimated” Mercedes in signing for Ferrari, where it will be “sad” if they are not competitive.

After his demoralising 2021 title defeat to Max Verstappen, Hamilton returned for 2022 chasing a fresh shot at that record-breaking eighth World Championship title, but Red Bull and Verstappen soon rose to dominant status, collecting the 2022 and 2023 title doubles with ease.

Damon Hill questions: Did Lewis Hamilton underestimate Mercedes?

And before F1 2024 began, the bombshell dropped that Hamilton would be heading for Ferrari come 2025, but in his final Mercedes season Hamilton is certainly on track to sign off on a high, having ended his winless streak with victories at Silverstone and Spa as part of a run which has seen Mercedes win three of the last four races.

It has been a rapid and impactful return to form for Mercedes, which left Hill questioning whether the team had been “underestimated” by its departing seven-time World Champion.

“He’s had such an incredible time with Mercedes, and at the time he made the decision [to leave], I think he’d quite understandably thought that Mercedes had reached the buffers,” Hill told Top Gear .

“But maybe he underestimated them, because they are making a comeback and they could well be competitive.”

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It seemed as though Ferrari were on the verge of a similar breakthrough, Charles Leclerc finally breaking his string of bad luck to win his home race, the Monaco Grand Prix, but the team hit a setback when their Spanish Grand Prix upgrades failed to deliver.

And Hill hopes that Ferrari will be competitive when Hamilton is at the wheel.

“It would be sad if he moved to Ferrari and Ferrari weren’t competitive,” said Hill, “because it would mean that he will be denied that chance to get the eighth title which many people believe he should’ve had.

“I would love to see Lewis fighting for his eighth title, and it’s going to be amazing seeing him in a Ferrari. It’s going to be very exciting.

“I think that it will add such a lot to the sport, and it’s an unwritten story. We don’t know how it’s going to turn out, but it’s going to be fascinating.”

The F1 2024 campaign resumes with this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix and excitement is high, considering the first 14 rounds of the campaign produced seven different winners, both current Ferrari drivers Leclerc and Carlos Sainz joining Hamilton in that group.

And Hamilton looks at this competitiveness at the front as a “fantastic” situation for Formula 1, one he did not expect himself and Mercedes to be involved in at this stage.

“It’s really fantastic, I think, for the sport, to be having such close teams and drivers,” he said. “The pedigree of drivers at the top today is really elite and amazing.

“We didn’t expect to be competing with the McLarens or the Red Bulls at this point in the season, you know, with how we started off, so for us to now have closed up and be… It’s going to be one hell of a second half of the season, for sure.”

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