What people ‘within the paddock’ are now saying about Lewis Hamilton Ferrari move

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Lewis Hamilton is at the halfway point of his final season with Mercedes. He’ll be looking to make it back-to-back victories at the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.

Hamilton has already won a record eight times at the Hungaroring, with the last of those coming in 2020. If he can take the chequered flag again here, he’ll match his fortnight-old record for nine victories at a single circuit.

Earlier in the season, Hamilton’s Mercedes farewell was shaping up to be fairly anonymous. He didn’t finish in the top six until the Miami GP, the sixth race of the season, and didn’t score a podium in the first nine.

It was his poorest-ever start to a campaign, 17 years on from his F1 debut in 2007. Mercedes teammate George Russell has consistently extracted more from the car, outqualifying Hamilton 10-2 thus far.

But the 39-year-old will hope that the emotional events of Silverstone ignite his season. It was his first win since the back end of the 2021 season.

Hamilton’s move to Mercedes back in 2013 proved to be a masterstroke. He won the title in just his second year, and proceeded to claim five more during the most successful partnership in F1 history.

Some in F1 paddock think Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari move is a mistake

Mercedes made a breakthrough with their car at the Canadian GP, where Russell took a shock pole position. The Silver Arrows have now won back-to-back races for the first time in the ground-effect era and finally look to have got a handle on their concept.

Meanwhile, Ferrari’s season seems to be headed on the opposite trajectory. After Charles Leclerc won in Monaco, following up Carlos Sainz’s earlier triumph in Australia, the Scuderia were just 24 points adrift of leaders Red Bull in the constructors’.

But despite a woeful run of form for Sergio Perez, the gap has now grown to 72. McLaren could well overtake Ferrari post-Budapest, and Mercedes will be increasingly confident of overhauling the 80-point deficit too.

A recent upgrade compromised the aerodynamic performance of the SF-24, leading to bouncing. The team are now scrambling to correct the misstep and ensure they don’t spurn the promise they showed in the early part of the campaign.

“So within the paddock, I think there is an opinion that Lewis is making the wrong decision,” BBC Sport’s Jennie Gow said on the Chequered Flag Podcast. “Now, obviously, Mercedes are performing and Ferrari aren’t getting as many points as we expected them to.”

Will Peter Bonnington follow Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari?

Less than a couple of months ago, Hamilton looked like he may be about to repeat his genius Mercedes move from 2013. But now the narrative has shifted dramatically.

At that point, Adrian Newey to Ferrari seemed a ‘done deal’ too, opening up the opportunity to work with perhaps the sport’s greatest designer. After their initial agreement broke down, though, it looks as if Newey is headed to Aston Martin instead.

Hamilton could receive a boost if Ferrari are able to secure the signing of Peter Bonnington. The race engineer, nicknamed ‘Bono’, has been by his side since 2013.

As it stands, though, Ferrari have not held any talks with Bonnington. That may be why Hamilton has called Sebastian Vettel to ask about Ricardo Adami, the German’s former right-hand man at Maranello.