Former Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley has touted Lewis Hamilton as a catalyst when he joins the Scuderia next season, Afrosport reports.
The seven-time world champion will leave Mercedes at the end of this year to move to the most successful constructor in Formula 1 and some enthusiasts of the sport such as Smedley, who worked at Maranello for 11 years, believes good times could be back for Ferrari.
The Italian automobile giant have not tested success in F1 since 2007 when they won the constructors’ championship and Kimi Raikkonen won the drivers’ championship.
“I’ve got a load of confidence for when Lewis gets there, I think he is going to be a catalyst for good things to happen,” Smedley told the Formula For Success podcast.
“I think that the team will embrace him. I think that if you go there with a bit of a reputation like what Lewis has got for being able to deliver, the team will get around him. The team will definitely get around him.
“Then Lewis has got to do his part as well. Lewis has definitely got to play his part in endearing himself and embracing the culture of the team, and not like being on the periphery of that. And if he can do that, they will love him. Honestly, he will walk on water.
“I think the team will now feel they’ll just be able to raise their game by another one or two per cent because they’ll feel that confidence, right?
“This is a seven-times World Champion coming into your team, having chosen your team over, effectively, a team he’s been at for, let’s call it, all of his life if you take the engine part of it, suddenly he’s walking away from all of that and all of that legacy, and he’s choosing you guys.
“That gives you a massive boost of confidence. And if everybody works that half 1% harder or smarter, then you know, great things can happen.”
The F1 paddock will return for the United States Grand Prix in Austin this weekend with Hamilton sitting in sixth place in the drivers’ championship.
