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Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton urged by F1 rival 'to get out the blocks' at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton begins a new era of his F1 career with Ferrari this season. This old rival feels he will need to make a quick impression.

Hamilton Zandvoort
Article
To news overview © XPBimages

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner feels Lewis Hamilton could be "a real factor" over the new F1 season if he manages to make a rapid start to life at Ferrari.

Hamilton has taken a major gamble late in his career by leaving the sanctuary and safety of Mercedes, under whose wing he had long been nurtured before moving into F1, initially with Mercedes-powered McLaren before joining the factory team in 2013, with whom he won six of his seven drivers' titles.

At the age of 40, Hamilton has opted to realise a dream from more than 20 years ago of driving for Ferrari, although the jury is out on how he will fare given his issues with the ground-effect cars of the current regulatory era over the last three years.

Horner feels it is at least "great for him, and for Formula 1, to see Lewis driving a Ferrari", although he believes his fellow Briton has to make an early impression if he is to be a title challenger this year.

"He obviously felt, and it looked from the outside looking in, that the relationship between them [Hamilton and Mercedes] had perhaps become a bit stale, so he felt that he needed to make a move," said Horner, speaking to media, including RacingNews365.

"It might just be the impetus and motivation that he needs to fire himself up again."

Age need not be a barrier for Hamilton

Recognising that Ferrari was a threat last season, and given the carryover of the car from then into the upcoming campaign, Horner added: "Ferrari had a competitive car, certainly towards the second half of the year.

"One can imagine if Lewis gets off to a good start, him being a real factor.

"It'll be a completely new environment for him, quite different to what he's used to. If he manages to immerse himself in that, settle quickly and get off to a good start, then you always build momentum from there.

"Of course, he's going into a team where he's got a very strong team-mate in Charles Leclerc, who is very quick and knows the team inside out.

"So that's why it's vital for him to get out the blocks well at the start of the year."

Hamilton turned 40 on January 7, and it remains to be seen if age has caught up with him. There were times towards the end of last season when he bemoaned he was no longer fast, and notably, team-mate George Russell trounced him in the qualifying head-to-head.

Horner is giving Hamilton the benefit of the doubt.

"I don't think age needs to be a barrier," remarked Horner. "If you look at Fernando Alonso [43], he's got a fair few years left in him.

"You're judged on how you perform, not on how old you are. Irrelevant of age, it's about how you deliver on track.

"At the end of the day, age is just a number, and he'll be judged on what he does, not on being a child of the 1980s."

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