Former Ferrari driver: "Hamilton doesn't care about Ferrari pressure"

Former Ferrari driver Giancarlo Fisichella believes Lewis Hamilton won't be worried or troubled by the additional pressure of being a Ferrari driver. Hamilton will move to Ferrari after the 2024 Formula 1 season, and the Brit will also be on the grid in 2026.

Fisichella started 229 Formula 1 Grands Prix, though only five for Ferrari. The Italian replaced the injured Felipe Massa in 2009 after securing the pole position for Force India at the Belgian Grand Prix. That race also turned out to be the last time he scored points in F1. Fisichella failed to score in his five races for Ferrari, so the Italian knows all about the pressure of being a Ferrari driver.

Why Hamilton won't care about the Ferrari pressure

"There will be more pressure because Ferrari is a dream for a lot of drivers, not just Italian drivers. For example, Michael Schumacher, Nikki Lauda, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso are just a few. For Hamilton, a guy with a lot of experience, he doesn't care about the pressure, especially at this stage of his career. He just needs a good car to show his talent," Fisichella told OCB Scores.

Schumacher won five consecutive World Championships with Ferrari. After briefly stepping away from the sport, Schumacher returned for Mercedes. Hamilton will make the opposite move. Fisichella believes that Schumacher would give some advice if he could. 

"He would just explain that it’s an amazing, fantastic team. It’s a little bit different to the English teams in terms of atmosphere, it’s a bit more like family. Straight away, he will feel into the team. That is very important when you move in a new team, feeling like part of the family straight away," Fisichella concluded.

Hamilton will hope for better results when he moves to Ferrari. The Italian team are second to Red Bull at the moment, having scored 49 points from the opening two races. Hamilton is currently ninth in the World Championship and is on his worst run of form since 2009.