Nigel Mansell reveals the biggest obstacle facing Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari

Nigel Mansell says age won’t be a factor in whether or not Lewis Hamilton wins a title with Ferrari, after all, he was 39 when he won the 1992 title with Williams.

Next season Hamilton will be racing in red, the Briton have exercised his option to leave Mercedes just one year into his latest two-year contract.

The seven-time World Champion has instead signed a multi-year deal to race for Ferrari, calling it the realisation of a “childhood dream”.

Age is but a number for ‘motivated’ Lewis Hamilton

But turning 40 before he even puts in his first laps in the 2025 Ferrari F1 car, former team owner Giancarlo Minardi has questioned the signing as he feels Ferrari should’ve rather gone with “young talent” instead of a “40-year-old champion”.

Mansell disagrees, after all, the former Williams driver was 39 when he claimed the 1992 World title.

“People are saying Lewis is now too old,” he told BBC Sport. “At 39? No. I won my championship at 39 and I could have gone on, but the politics got involved.

“But Lewis, if he’s motivated, he’s got several, if not a lot more years left, I think it’s just fantastic.”

Hamilton won’t even be the oldest driver on the grid when he moves to Ferrari as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, expected to either stay at Aston Martin next season or even take Hamilton’s Mercedes seat, will be 43 this July.

The Spaniard is one of several drivers, including Carlos Sainz who Hamilton is replacing at Ferrari, who has been linked to the Mercedes drive.

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Max Verstappen, not age, is Lewis Hamilton’s biggest obstacle

Instead of his age, Mansell believes it is Max Verstappen and Red Bull that will be Hamilton’s biggest obstacles as he tries to win a title for Ferrari.

The Red Bull driver heads into this season chasing a fourth successive Drivers’ title and based on his 19 wins in 22 races, it seems a sure bet.

But with pundits adamant the competition will close up this season and even more so next year, Mansell is excited for 2025.

“Yes, Lewis can do it, but I’m sure Max will do everything he can to stop him,” Mansell added. “And I’m sure Ferrari this next year will do everything they can to stop him.

“But I think we’ve got a great Formula 1 season coming up, and it certainly looks like we’re going to have an exciting one in 2025.

“I think it’s fantastic for the fans and it’s incredibly dynamic.

“I think for Lewis, he’ll probably go on and finish his career with Ferrari, it’s like a dream come true for him, I would imagine, because going to Ferrari is everything.”

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