Former Formula 1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone has taken another swipe at the series’ most successful driver, Lewis Hamilton, predicting his high-profile move to Ferrari will end in failure.
Hamilton began testing for Ferrari last month after joining the team from Mercedes. But Ecclestone doubts he will reach the end of his second year at the team.“He won’t last that long,” Ecclestone told The Telegraph. “Piero Ferrari, who has taken him there, still thinks they’ve done the right thing. I hope they have. I hope they haven’t just jumped in and end up wishing they hadn’t.”
Ecclestone claimed Hamilton will play second fiddle to Charles Leclerc, his new team mate, who has raced for Ferrari since 2019.
“Even if Lewis does well, there’ll still be a lot of enemies, because he has suddenly arrived.”
Hamilton turned 40 in the off-season and has raced continuously in F1 since making his debut in 2007. Ecclestone believes that will have an effect on his motivation.
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“I have my theory about this,” he said. “It’s not the age with drivers, it’s how long they have been doing the same thing.
The 94-year-old, who was replaced as F1 CEO eight years ago, has clashed repeatedly with Hamilton in recent years. Ecclestone’s 2020 claim “black people are more racist than what white people are” was described by Hamilton as an “ignorant and uneducated comment.”
Ecclestone came to the defence of his former driver Nelson Piquet after he used a racist term while referring to Hamilton. He later made comments about the 2008 season which prompted Felipe Massa to bring a court case aimed at overturning the result of the championship, which Hamilton won.
Hamilton’s attire and interest in music drew further criticism from Ecclestone in his latest interview. “Lewis gets himself up front in a way where you can dislike him,” he said.
“How a guy who has won a few world titles and has a few dollars in the bank can dress the way he dresses… I’m not a fan of that.
“He has a lot of talent as a driver. As much as people credit him with? No, but still enough to win races. I don’t know why he does all this other nonsense. He needs to get out of the music business and whatever else.”
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Roy Beedrill
8th February 2025, 16:12
Let’s see if Bernie lasts longer.
El Pollo Loco
8th February 2025, 16:41
Not sure cheerfully predicting someone’s death is imminent and predicting a driver is over the hill is quite comparable. But still you rise…even if Bernie doesn’t.
Moshambles (@moshambles)
9th February 2025, 11:50
He had so much left to give
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
8th February 2025, 16:47
I think the point is: “I probably won’t be there to see it, but you guys will”
HT Onk (@pweb87)
8th February 2025, 18:10
As long as he stays out of direct sun light and away from garlic he should be fine
Konstantinos
8th February 2025, 22:22
haha! That made me laugh, thank you
Dex
8th February 2025, 18:23
Morbid.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
9th February 2025, 15:54
It is interesting how most bad guys tend to live long.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
10th February 2025, 18:40
they are too afraid of dying. But I think Bernie is just leveraging a ‘tough’ comment, and expecting Hamilton to bow out in style me thinks.
obviously with the formula change in 2026, the racing is going to be complete trash. Europe wants to go one way politically, while the us dollar goes the other way. So weird. You think people could actually learn from the last 115 years and figure out what is going on, but things just never change do they.
The only way to ‘save’ F1 is to turn it in to a complete circus, because it reached it’s zenith a while back. Probably when it was still cool to have cigarette sponsors on your livery.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
8th February 2025, 16:12
“How a guy who has won a few world titles and has a few dollars in the bank can dress the way he dresses… I’m not a fan of that.
Leave it Bernie, please. He can dress how he wants to, just as that mop on your head hasn’t been to everyones taste for decades. I honestly don’t think Bernie will be remembered kindly, or at least ‘conflicting’. Between the bankers, the bribery, the tax, family trusts, CVC years. I guess Bernie would say he ‘won’, but there’s been a lot of collateral damage on the way.
I don’t wish ill on anyone, of course. But perhaps 94yr olds should be advising on who isn’t going to last two years.
MichaelN
8th February 2025, 16:16
Ecclestone doesn’t care how anyone dresses. His own family is more than enough proof of that.
Nothing Hamilton does matters. It’s not about what he does, but who he is.
These petty swipes are just the things Ecclestone thinks, or knows, are sort of on the edges of polite conversation.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
8th February 2025, 16:54
If anything that is exactly the age at which you should make these bold comments, before it’s too late, and if you’re right, people will say that eventually.
MichaelN
8th February 2025, 16:13
Come on Bernard, just say what’s really bothering you about Hamilton.
It’ll be easier than you think. We already know.
El Pollo Loco
8th February 2025, 16:44
Bernie is a lot of things (some worse than what you’re implying), but he isn’t the r word. He tried his hardest to get Willy T. Ribbs a seat. Also, his wife’s not white.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
8th February 2025, 20:26
Is that the wife that he compared to a ‘domestic appliance’?
What was the quote? Oh yeah:
“Women should be dressed in white like all domestic appliances.”
Giving him some slack, he is the product of his generation; however, on both counts, we know what is implied by his comments. There’s enough r-word and sexism in him to make him out of sync with 2025 (although some seem to be trying to take us back to the golden era of Bernie and his ilk.)
El Pollo Loco
8th February 2025, 23:20
Ugh. He was clearly joking when he said that. Bernie loved to troll.
El Pollo Loco
8th February 2025, 23:21
And he said that about Danica Patrick. Not his wife.
Leroy (@g-funk)
8th February 2025, 21:42
A team manager spotting talent and trying to acquire that talent to enrich his team doesn’t make him a non r word either. The history of sports is filled with team owners and managers who were deeply r word but would happily enlist the services of someone belonging to a group they consider “inferior” if it meant sporting success.
David BR (@david-br)
9th February 2025, 0:34
Although some of his best friends are evidently r people. Piquet for instance.
But anyhow, you’re wrong. Anyone with the constant need to signal their dislike of Hamilton’s ‘difference’ in terms of attire and interest in music (we know which kinds of music Ecclestone means) is dog whistling.
S Arkazam
9th February 2025, 13:57
Does the ‘r’ stand for ‘raceist’ aka racefans?
Soon the Woke people wont even allow us to use ‘woke’ anymore; prefer to be called ‘w people’.
Buy but with two genders and 26 letters in many alphabets we can still pigeon-hole the whole world.
David BR (@david-br)
9th February 2025, 15:29
I was borrowing from other posters (see above). But also I like seeing my posts appear when I post them, not hours later! Kind of defeats the point of a conversation.
El Pollo Loco
10th February 2025, 9:49
Pretty posts get automatically “boderated” if you use the r word. Even more oddly, you can’t even use the word “boderated.”
I don’t remember Bernie constantly criticizing Lewis for anything. If he was criticizing his attire, it’s not because he dresses like a rapper or something. Pretty much the exact opposite, wearing ludicrous high fashion outfits from European designers.
MichaelN
9th February 2025, 17:28
I had a quick look, and from a cursory glance it seems the only part of the world where Ecclestone’s current, as of February 2025 anyway, wife wouldn’t be considered white is in the US.
Either way, Ecclestone is touching all the buttons with these jabs of his. The dress is wrong. The music is wrong. The attitude is wrong. On and on and on. It’s always the same stuff. He knows what he’s saying. His intended audience knows what he’s saying. These kind of shenanigans are way past being given the benefit of the doubt.
Dale
17th February 2025, 23:22
He’s told you already … but your own biases and racism want to believe something else instead.
Suggest you learn something about Bernie. He might say stupid things, but he’s always 100% honest when he says it … no matter how right or wrong he is, he can never be accused of not being open and brutally honest.
El Pollo Loco
8th February 2025, 16:37
DavidBR and co. will be furious! Anyway, I disagree. I don’t think Hamilton will win the quali battle, but in terms of points (which is what counts at the EOD) I think it’s a toss up. It will be an exciting battle. I hope we’re not disappointed. Besides Lewis and Alonso, I find it hard to care abou any of the other drivers. Max is spectacular, but he seems more excited to play Minecraft and win sim races than F1. That and the new generation of drivers are softer than triple ply. “Oh my god, it’s wet!” “Oh my god, he raced me so hard!” “Oh my god, his wing’s loose. Better call race control.” “Oh my god, it’s Max. He’s scary. I’ll just let him by.”
Anti
8th February 2025, 19:41
I mean c’mon, he owned the whole circus in a sense, you have to give the guy some sort of cred in what he says about some aspects of F1. His opinions are his opinions, every one has them, remember? It’s the media influencing the ‘right/wrong’ aspect. Nothing is +/-, b/w, on/off, 0/1 any more so let folks feel how they want about a subject.
El Pollo Loco
9th February 2025, 0:32
When did I say his opinion was worthless? That was pretty much everyone else commenting but me. I will say, though, since you brought it up that BE loves to stir the pot. He himself has admitted he doesn’t believe half the things he’s said over the year. He’s stated over and over again over the years that all publicity is good publicity. Bernie is also a bit of a Marko type. Very impatient. One mediocre season and he’s ready to write off Lewis.
David BR (@david-br)
9th February 2025, 0:43
Sorry not to appear earlier, you must have been disappointed.
Furious, why? Do you really go by the opinions of someone like Ecclestone? I mean, there are plenty of more informed and far less decrepit and less toxic pundits I read and listen to, but even they just express more or less disposable opinions.
What I do dislike is the way Ecclestone transforms his animosity into a series of tropes (on dress and so on) that single Hamilton out as some kind of aberration in Formula 1. Like he shouldn’t really be in the sport, he’s not what a Formula 1 driver looks like. Dubious in the sense we all know (and traceable back to people like Briatore) but also fake given that Ecclestone is the first to recognize the financial value Hamilton adds to Formula 1.
El Pollo Loco
10th February 2025, 9:52
First of all, my comment was tongue in cheek. Second of all, my implication was that Team SLH is incapable of tolerating any opinion which doesn’t express the sentiment “Lewis was and will always be the greatest driver in F1!”
David BR (@david-br)
10th February 2025, 13:36
First, I don’t believe in ‘greatest driver ever in F1’. You can make a case in other sports where the technology, such as it is (say, a football or cricket bat) has remained the same. Formula 1? Virtually impossible. Likewise the increase in the number of races across the years, and the decline in drivers also participating in other modalities. It’s fun to do but never resolvable. Second, why this obsession with labelling certain posters as ‘Hamilton fans’ ‘Team SLH’ and so on? It’s clearly intended to be reductive and dismissive. Saying your comment was ‘tongue in cheek’ is disingenuous when you do it consistently.
Greg
10th February 2025, 21:02
I don’t think there are many people in the world that can say they know more about F1 that Bernie.
Zach (@zakspeedf1team)
8th February 2025, 16:37
Ugh, why do we still have to hear what Bernie has to say?
El Pollo Loco
8th February 2025, 16:46
Because anyone commenting about Hamilton, good or bad, will generate comments…especially if it’s bad.
N
9th February 2025, 11:37
You’re not wrong, it has generated 7 from you so far.
El Pollo Loco
10th February 2025, 9:53
Oh snap!
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
8th February 2025, 16:46
I’m glad the poison dwarf has said this.
This kind of stuff should motivate Lewis far more than any a$$ kissing statements or hero worship.
Be sure to smile and wave to him from the podium Lewis ;)
Jere (@jerejj)
8th February 2025, 16:48
Sure
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
8th February 2025, 16:59
I think the irrelevant old has been should keep quiet. We’ve heard too many of Bernie’s views for years. He gets off on causing controversy.
asz
8th February 2025, 17:06
Not wanting to defend him, just noting that I’d love to live to be a 94-year-old whose opinion is still sought.
SteveP
8th February 2025, 22:46
After thinking about this for a while, I think Bernie would love it too, hence his “loss-leader” freebie comments to anyone that will listen.
Invisiblekid (@invisiblekid)
10th February 2025, 16:07
Who’s still soughting for his opinion?
Apart from the media to generate clicks.
Postreader
11th February 2025, 11:51
You’d want to live to be a prejudiced bitter man with a body that is almost falling apart at this point? Strange.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
9th February 2025, 11:29
I think he should get his head down and try and prove him wrong… Oh, sorry, thought you meant the 40-year-old driver.
Sham (@sham)
8th February 2025, 17:16
Ecclestone comes out with a headline worthy quote every now and then – he just likes the attention.
His reasons for disliking Hamilton are his own, but have always been there. And why anyone tales any notice of anything he says is completely beyond me.
BLS (@brightlampshade)
8th February 2025, 17:28
It must be hard for Bernie, to go from the absolute keystone of F1 to being an irrelevant old man.
Of course he’s going to come out with statements like this, it’s only “big” statements that’ll get him any attention these days, and even that attention is seriously waning.
SteveP
8th February 2025, 19:35
Stop the presses: “Old Man Yells at Clouds”
bull mello (@bullmello)
8th February 2025, 23:52
Bingo!
Adam (@rocketpanda)
8th February 2025, 18:49
Tbh, I dunno why, but I just can’t buy him in red. I figure he’ll still win races, but somehow Hamilton in a Ferrari just… it doesn’t seem ‘right’, somehow. Probably just used to seeing him fighting Ferraris rather than racing with them.
Leo B
8th February 2025, 19:58
All F1 careers, if they last a long while, will end in failure.
OlegG
9th February 2025, 10:20
There’s always a first time for everything.
Why not with Hamilton in a Ferrari? : – )
S Arkazam
9th February 2025, 14:07
Which has been the longest career ending on a high?
– Alain Prost
– Nico Rosberg
– Jackie Stewart
– Mike Hawthorn
Or maybe soon Nico Hulkenberg ;)
SteveP
9th February 2025, 16:39
It might just be me misinterpreting, but I don’t think SJS regards his last season in F1 as a high, as the title win always plays alongside the death of François Cevert
Chris Horton
8th February 2025, 20:31
Wow. What a hateful interview.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
8th February 2025, 20:51
I thought we stopped quoting Bernie. I really hope the article gets taken down.
Sihrtogg (@sihrtogg)
10th February 2025, 15:55
Agree. His relevance is long over.
A clear case of “nothing better to report on”
bull mello (@bullmello)
8th February 2025, 23:08
Bernie, makes me yawn…
David BR (@david-br)
9th February 2025, 0:24
Hamilton won’t last two years at Ferrari, spits Ecclestone
Sorted the headline.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
9th February 2025, 2:19
He didn’t just say that – in the same interview he also talked about what a great leader Donald is because he wanted his name printed on everything in the New York race. Clearly Bernie has lost his marbles along with Donald.
Konstantinos
9th February 2025, 9:07
There are a lot of compliments in there that most people would consider insults, it’s insane. Praising Donald by saying that he could have been a great used car salesman is a highlight… I guess wealth affords people the luxury of being completely out of touch.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
9th February 2025, 11:53
Rather like a certain young Mr Stroll who seems to think he is a top class racing driver?
Johns
9th February 2025, 20:59
I am really waiting for lance to tell his dad he is done with car racing and wants newey to design an american cup sailboat so he can go sailing now that there are no more grid girls.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
9th February 2025, 15:46
@Konstantinos yeah, I can’t tell if you’re Greek American living in the States but being called a used car salesman is a huge insult to most people. It essentially means that you will tell any number of lies to sell the car. I was test driving a Mercedes SUV (new at a dealership) and I was surprised by the lack of immediate throttle response which is something that magazines had also talked about. The salesman told me that the car adapts its performance to the driver so within a month it’s going to be much more immediate :-). I couldn’t believe my ears. It’s like driving a Williams and the team principal is telling Sainz that the car adapts its performance to the driver – at first you’ll be P20 but by the 3rd lap you’ll be P1 and lapping everyone with 3 seconds to spare.
Which is something that I’m sure Bernie and Donnie would say. Get out there Alex, it’s time to win the WCC and WDC!
grat
9th February 2025, 20:39
My mother had a 2001 Saturn that adapted the shift patterns to the driver’s habits. It really did– and as a result, I hated driving the car, because it always felt just a “bit off” when I drove it.
I would have asked the salesman why the car defaulted to “little old lady” mode.
mia
9th February 2025, 9:15
Questions for Keith and Racefan editorial team: What are the justifications for publishing BE’s comments? I thought racefans aims to be less bombastic, less about click baiting. It’s a quiet period certainly but highlighting toxic comments from someone who is now on the fringe of F1? Oh of course, you’d say, it’s up to us readers to opine. But do you really don’t have other news?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
10th February 2025, 9:07
The two individuals in this story are uniquely important figures in Formula 1 history. Ecclestone made the sport a commercial success and ran it for decades. Hamilton is not only its most successful competitor but still the only black person participating in a white-dominated series. Ecclestone may no longer be running the show but his words have power, as the Massa court case demonstrates, and his preoccupations and motivations therefore matter.
You may not like Ecclestone. I have my views on him, as I do on others. But if the question is ‘what is newsworthy?’, not ‘whom do we like?’, then for me this one is a no-brainer.
OlegG
9th February 2025, 10:17
The fact that all before Bernie’s predictions about Hamilton have not come true
explains his passion to continue in the same spirit : – )
He hopes that one day he will guess.
But no matter how he views Hamilton’s racing prospects,
prying into his personal life is too much.
OlegG
9th February 2025, 10:36
For all the categoricality of Ecclestone’s statements, we must give him his due:
he is consistent, even when he goes against the majority.
And considering what he’s managed to achieve in business, you shouldn’t think he’s crazy.
This is not the first time Ecclestone has predicted Hamilton’s retirement
(the previous time was at the end of 2021).
I see this as a way to encourage Lewis to make new achievements : -)
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
9th February 2025, 15:47
Common sense is not a requirement for financial success :-)
Greg
10th February 2025, 21:04
It takes a lot of common sense to make a couple of billion dollars and even more not to lose it
Johnny
9th February 2025, 17:38
Surprising his wife hasn’t yet tripped him down a flight of stairs. That pre-nup must be iron clad.
Edvaldo
9th February 2025, 17:39
Hamilton is 40. He doesn’t have much racing left in him, so of course he won’t be there for long. Three years, tops.
But of course, he will fulfill his commitment, why wouldn’t he do that?
Bernie loves to make shocking statements, doesn’t he?
grat
9th February 2025, 20:50
Hard to say– Hamilton’s performance at Las Vegas was certainly impressive. I assume you believe that Fernando is now beyond race-winning capability, as he’s 43?
Here’s a trivia question– of the six F1 drivers who have more than 300 Grand Prix starts, how many of them have won a race SINCE they passed 300 Grand Prix starts?
Answer: Lewis Hamilton, in what was considered his worst season, that featured 7 different race winners.
As for Bernie, he’s on record praising totalitarian leaders such as Hitler and Trump.
Edvaldo
9th February 2025, 23:41
You should know very well that it’s not only about form, even if it’s obvious that a driver won’t get better after he turns 40.
If you’re 43, you’ll have raced for the major part of 30+ years of your life.
It’s only natural to decide to enjoy life differently from some point on. Alonso already said he won’t be there to drive Newey’s future projects, he’s already planning his retirement.
El Pollo Loco
10th February 2025, 11:36
He said he doubted he would drive past 2026 (the first Newey car), but that he would assess how he was doing before making any final decision. He obviously doesn’t want to stay in F1 if he isn’t driving at an extremely high level.
AlexS
13th February 2025, 6:28
George Orwell defined well your kind of progressive…newspeak.
“As for Bernie, he’s on record praising totalitarian leaders such as Hitler and Trump.”
“Hamilton’s performance at Las Vegas was certainly impressive. I assume you believe that Fernando is now beyond race-winning capability, as he’s 43?”
Manipulative language, the point of Bernie opinion about Hamilton competitiveness is not about winning a race it is about winning a title.
For that, the increasing number of races in a championship it certainly puts more difficulty into older drivers.
Dale
17th February 2025, 23:30
Keith and all the Hammifans might not like it, but Bernie isn’t wrong.
Hamilton has spent the better part of 18 years accusing the Ferrari team of being cheats, he arrives not speaking the language of the team, replaces Sainz who the team members very much loved, is teammate to Charles who they’re absolutely behind, is on the downhill of his career, & had been outperformed by his teammate for the last 3 years.
This is a decision that has been forced on them all by one of the suits … and they might not be so enthusiastic about it all.