Juan Pablo Montoya has gazed into his crystal ball and sees a Formula 1 future in which Lewis Hamilton could win everything if Ferrari get their act together and also predicts that Max Verstappen will ditch Red Bull for Mercedes. At the 2024 season finale , Lewis Hamilton raced a Mercedes-powered F1 car for the last time. It was his 356th Grand Prix start with the Tri-Star badge-engined car.
Next year he begins his Ferrari journey. There he will team up with Ferrari’s ‘homegrown’ Charles Leclerc, much like just over a decade ago Hamilton ditched McLaren to join Mercedes, with their ‘homegrown’ Nico Rosberg as his teammate. If history repeats itself then Leclerc will be concerned.
How Hamilton will square up to Leclerc was tackled by ex-F1 driver Montoya during an interview ith the media team: “Lewis is mature enough to appreciate that in the short-term he is going to struggle a little bit, learning the Ferrari thing. “Charles is going to feel like he’s got the upper hand. But give it about six or seven races, and if the car is competitive, Lewis is going to win everything,” predicted the 49-year-old Colombian.
Monty: Is Max going to be happy running tenth? Montoya, a seven-time Grand Prix winner, shared his thoughts on Verstappen’s future: “I think Max will end up leaving in a couple of years. He won’t leave the sport. It’s the ultimate.
He’ll leave Red Bull. “He doesn’t have it that difficult. Yes, it’s hard because he works really hard.
He has a stable job. And he kind of controls a lot of what happens. The big question is, is Max willing to play cool if 2026 is bad? “You know, if Red Bull comes with the powertrains and it’s not where it needs to be, is Max going to be happy running tenth? No.
“And Mercedes comes with an offer, he is going to jump ship straight away. It’s very easy to be loyal when you win in races. If I was in his shoes for sure I would be looking at that already.
It would surprise me if he’s not. Publicly he would say, ’No way,’ but internally I would be surprised if a conversation was not going on,” ventured Montoya..
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Montoya: Hamilton at Ferrari could win everything, Verstappen to Mercedes
GRANDPRIX247.comIn-Depth & Independent Formula 1 News All The TimeJuan Pablo Montoya has gazed into his crystal ball and sees a Formula 1 future in which Lewis Hamilton could win everything if Ferrari get their act together and also predicts that Max Verstappen will ditch Red Bull for Mercedes. At the 2024 season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton raced a Mercedes-powered F1 car for the last time. It was his 356th Grand Prix start with the Tri-Star badge-engined car. Next year he begins his Ferrari journey. There [...]The post Montoya: Hamilton at Ferrari could win everything, Verstappen to Mercedes appeared first on GRANDPRIX247.