Winning an eighth F1 World Championship with Ferrari would be “the perfect scenario” for Lewis Hamilton in the F1 2025 season.

That is the belief of former FIA steward and ex-Sky F1 pundit Johnny Herbert, who has claimed that the seven-time World Champion has already brought a “massive change” of mentality to Ferrari.

Johnny Herbert reveals Lewis Hamilton’s ‘massive’ impact on Ferrari

Hamilton continues to search for a record eighth World Championship, having been denied the all-time F1 record in highly controversial circumstances at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The British driver has been limited to just two race wins over the last three seasons as former employers Mercedes struggled to adapt to F1’s ground-effect regulations introduced at the beginning of 2022.

Hamilton arrives at a Ferrari team who have also been starved of success over recent years, with the Scuderia still without a World Championship of any kind since 2008, the year of their new signing’s first Drivers’ title.

Ferrari’s last Drivers’ World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen, was crowned at the end of Hamilton’s debut season in 2007 with the then-McLaren driver falling short by one point.

Herbert was recently removed from his role as an FIA steward after F1’s governing body deemed his punditry work to be “incompatible” with the responsibilities of a race official.

And the three-time race winner has tipped Hamilton to have a transformational effect on Ferrari, describing another title triumph as “the perfect scenario” for the 40-year-old.

He said Casinoutanspelpaus.io: “There’s going to be so many lovely stories that are going to come this year, with Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari and the excitement that’s brought.

“This is the perfect scenario for Lewis, for Fred Vasseur [Ferrari team principal] and maybe for Charles Leclerc as well, for everything to come together and then they get back to the championship-winning ways.

“When you’ve got one of the greatest drivers we’ve ever seen in Formula 1, as in Lewis Hamilton, let’s hope that it all comes together for him. He’s very motivated.

“The motivation of Lewis is always very important.

“I always remember that the motivation was so, so important to him. To go away in the winter, have a bit of a reboot, come back all fresh up but have that motivation is so important.

“From what Lewis has been saying so far, his motivation is definitely not lacking.

“I think Lewis Hamilton winning the championship this year would be the perfect scenario.

“I think Ferrari winning the championship would be brilliant for the sport. Ferrari have to translate it into success now with one of the best drivers.”

Herbert went on to claim that Hamilton can “definitely” add another title to his collection, suggesting that Mercedes’ struggles over recent years had an impact on his performances.

And he claimed that Hamilton’s impact on Ferrari could be reminiscent of that of Michael Schumacher, the only other seven-time World Champion in F1 history, who claimed five straight titles with the Scuderia from 2000.

He explained: “Lewis Hamilton is such a powerful voice and such a unique character. We’re very lucky to have him in our sport.

“I think F1 itself has used it in a very, positive way. I think Mercedes used it in a massive way. And from what I understand, already with Ferrari there is a massive change in the mentality of having Lewis Hamilton on board at Ferrari.

“So yes, the power that he’s always been able to use and good on him for using that.

“He could have been a quiet man coming into a team, not really saying much but he doesn’t, he is outspoken in the cockpit and outside the cockpit.

“The power he’s going to bring to F1 this year is going to be very, very good. And I think that’s probably been a very positive thing in many respects for Mercedes.

“The motivation at Ferrari and with a good car that can give him the speed that he needs to beat everybody else, Lewis Hamilton can definitely win another championship.

“The motivation is going to be one thing. The motivation he’s going to get from the car is definitely improved with fewer little mistakes.

“I could probably criticise Hamilton a bit and say there have been more mistakes from him than I’ve seen before, but I think the situation at Mercedes didn’t help.

“Last year, we saw him produce some brilliant racing in the last couple of races, he was really strong.

“Hamilton is definitely hungry enough for the title now, it’s down to Fred Vasseur to give him the car that he can actually achieve in.

“2025 is a good opportunity for Ferrari to improve from what they had in 2024 and come with a much more competitive package for 2025.

“It just may be the right timing, but then going further forward for 2026, where it’s the same thing, it’s still about getting the car right.

“The drivers’ comments are still very important. There have been times over the last five years where the simulator and their algorithm are the most important thing and it’s the biggest direction they use for the development of the car.

“And then as we’ve seen with Mercedes, just for example, where they struggled like hell and then they started listening to the drivers a little bit more and that helped. them as well.

“There’s always a human element that has to come into play. Someone like Hamilton has that wonderful ability to be able to explain what is going on underneath them in the car and what they’re expecting from the car.

“The man that I always saw do that, probably for the first time, is Michael Schumacher.

“He made sure that Rory Byrne, Ross Brawn and Jean Todt had an understanding and they understood what Michael wanted from the car.

“That allowed them to go away and for Rory, especially the designer, to give him the tools that he needed.

“That’s the human element that Michael Schumacher gave to a team. That’s still important today and I think Hamilton is one of those who can bring that type of power to the team.

“There’s no reason that Ferrari should not have improved than what they had last year.

“Yes, I know everybody else is going to improve to a degree, but there’s no reason why they can’t.”