Ferrari urged to tempt Lewis Hamilton like Niki Lauda and Ross Brawn once did

Niki Lauda and Ross Brawn were among the driving forces of bringing Hamilton across from McLaren in 2013 in a move which raised eyebrows because Mercedes were not considered frontrunners.

Six more F1 championships later, Hamilton is now 38 and in the final year of his contract with Mercedes unable to provide a car which can compete for glory for two seasons in a row.

• ‘Ferrari’s biggest problem is the drivers’ - Schumacher scolds Leclerc and Sainz

“As a racing driver I don’t see why he would not have the motivation, especially for that eighth title,” ex-F1 driver Herbert told Ice36. 

“He is still good enough. I know what it means for him. 

“George Russell is doing a cracking job but Lewis has still got what it takes to win races. 

“He is not comfortable with the car, but that happens. Every single driver I know has moments when they feel uncomfortable with their car and complain. 

“It is unfair to criticise Lewis for that. The motivation for the eighth is still there. 

“But it has to have the right ingredients - like he did when he went from McLaren to Mercedes when a number of people, including myself, thought he was mad to do it.

“Mercedes at that point were nowhere. What Niki Lauda and Ross Brawn were able to present to him excited him. That’s why he went. 

“Ferrari have got to do a similarly big selling job.

“Lewis hasn’t signed his extension and that enables him, if he is still motivated, to look elsewhere. 

“And why wouldn’t he? Ferrari has to be the option. He is not going to go to Red Bull, that isn’t going to happen. He is not going to go to Aston Martin either. 

“I know Ferrari have not quite been able to achieve what we all expect Ferrari to achieve, but they certainly have the potential to be able to do it. That’s for sure. 

“They have got closer over the past couple of years but it hasn’t quite worked out.

“Maybe he wants to hold on to see which direction Mercedes has gone and what they do, which is not very positive, and then maybe put the feelers out for somewhere else.

“The red car makes the most sense. If it happened, then the one who would suffer would be Carlos Sainz as Charles Leclerc is already concreted in.

“Hamilton and Sainz at Ferrari would be a wonderful pairing, to be honest. The young and the experienced, fighting it out in a Ferrari that hopefully, with the whole ability that Lewis has, to draw in the right people to be able to produce a car and take it to Red Bull as it is at the moment.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and Hamilton himself have both suggested that a contract renewal is on the cards and could be signed within weeks.

However, the longer it goes unconfirmed and the longer that Mercedes’ W14 lags behind the Red Bulls, the more tempted Hamilton might become to try something new.