Binotto doubles down on Lewis Hamilton stance as Ferrari decision questioned

When news broke that Lewis Hamilton was to make the move to Ferrari, Mattia Binotto questioned whether this was for the best.

Hamilton has since struggled to make the desired and expected impact in Ferrari red, which means the opinion of former Ferrari team principal Binotto has not changed. He is still “not sure it was the right choice” to bring Hamilton to Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari: Mattia Binotto remains unconvinced

With Hamilton’s hopes of winning a record eighth World Championship as a Mercedes driver having ground to a halt, F1’s most successful driver linked up with F1’s most successful team.

Ferrari moved Carlos Sainz aside to place Hamilton alongside Charles Leclerc, a decision which Binotto was quick to question.

Asked last year by Corriere della Sera if he would have signed Hamilton to Ferrari, Binotto replied: “No. But he did very well to go to Ferrari, I agree with his decision.”

16 rounds into Hamilton’s first season with Ferrari and there has been little to shout about. Hamilton did win the China Sprint, but is still searching for his first Ferrari podium. He has put 117 points on the board to Leclerc’s 163.

Therefore, Hamilton has not done enough to change Binotto’s mind.

“I think Hamilton is one of the greatest ever, but at this stage of his career, I’m not sure it was the right choice,” Binotto told il Giornale.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc head-to-head

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Redemption potentially awaits for Hamilton and Ferrari, with a major revamp to the regulations for 2026 set to create shifts in the pecking order, and thus opportunity.

At Ferrari, Hamilton is looking to make history by eclipsing Schumacher’s tally of seven titles, with the team where Schumacher realised that achievement, becoming a Ferrari and F1 icon.

Like Schumacher transformed Ferrari into the force of Formula 1, Hamilton is trying to raise the Scuderia back onto F1’s pedestal. Much has been made of the “documents” he has been submitting as part of that effort.

“I hold a lot of meetings, I’ve called lots of meetings with the heads of the team,” Hamilton revealed to PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher and other media outlets ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.

“I’ve sat with John [Elkann, president], Benedetto [Vigna, chief executive], and Fred [Vasseur, team principal] in several meetings.

“I’ve sat with the head of our car development, with Loic [Serra], also with the heads of different departments, talking about the engine for next year, talking about front suspension for next year, talking about rear suspension for next year – things that you want, issues that I have with this car.

“I’ve sent documents through the year. After the first few races, I did a full document for the team.

“Then during this break, I had another two documents that I sent in and so then I come in and want to address those.

“Some of it’s structural adjustments that we need to make as a team in order to get better and all the areas that we want to improve.

“The other one was really about the car, the current issues that I have with this car, some things that you do want to take on to the next year’s car and some that you need to work on changing for next year.

“We did development for [next year], tried the 2026 car for the first time and started work on that.

“Thirty engineers come into the room and you sit and debrief with every single one of them.

“So big, big push.”

In light of Hamilton’s reveal, Binotto was asked how this ‘documents’ approach compares to how Schumacher operated at Ferrari.

Now Audi’s F1 chief, Binotto was a Ferrari stalwart and played a key role in the Schumacher-Ferrari era of dominance, working within the engine department at that time.

“He wasn’t just a driver, he was a leader in terms of attitude and mentality,” Binotto said of Schumacher.

“There was certainly a constant exchange between him, [team principal Jean] Todt and [chairman Luca di] Montezemolo. But everything remained within their circle.

“Michael had another effect on us engineers: he made us raise the bar by keeping his own bar very high.”

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