Massa: Hamilton’s arrival motivates Leclerc more

Felipe Massa spent 8 of his 15 seasons in Formula 1 with Ferrari, knows this team very well and fully understands Lewis Hamilton’s decision to dedicate the next phase of his career to the Scuderia.

“I didn’t know it was all leading to this. It seemed to me that Lewis would end his career at Mercedes,” said the 2008 vice-champion in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport (as everyone remembers, it was Hamilton who won the title then). – On the other hand, let’s look at Mercedes’ results in the previous two seasons. Moreover, we know that Lewis has never hidden his interest in Ferrari. When we take all this into account, his decision no longer seems so unexpected.

I can only assume that he no longer believes in repeating his previous successes with Mercedes. He probably needs a new challenge and now is the right time for that.”

The Brazilian Formula 1 veteran has no doubt that a teammate like Hamilton will force Charles Leclerc to come together, and this will become an additional motivation factor for the Monaco driver.

“Charles has no one to fear, he just has to concentrate on his work,” says Massa. – Hamilton’s determination and work ethic are an important factor that will influence the atmosphere in the team. But this will also give Charles extra motivation, because beating Lewis while driving the exact same car is a very interesting challenge.

In addition, the arrival of Hamilton will have a very positive impact on the Ferrari brand in terms of marketing. However, the team needs to be strengthened, Ferrari needs new highly qualified specialists and a faster car needs to be built. After all, if the car is not efficient enough, Hamilton cannot win.”

Felipe also answered the question of who could replace Lewis at Mercedes: “I would invite Fernando Alonso or put the young Kimi Antonelli behind the wheel.”