Daly believes Ferrari sacrificed car development for Hamilton's marketing appeal

Former Formula 1 driver Derek Daly believes Ferrari sacrificed car development by signing Lewis Hamilton. He argues that Hamilton gives less technical feedback than George Russell or Carlos Sainz.

In an interview with RacingNews365, Daly described Hamilton, who joined Ferrari in 2025, as a powerful marketing asset. He warned that the operation around the driver must not be allowed to hold back Ferrari's progress as a team or the development of its cars.

Daly's comments follow the Mexican Grand Prix, where Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc battled on the opening lap and neither went on to win. Max Verstappen benefited from their fight.

Daly called the situation a management failure and wants clearer rules for how the Ferrari drivers race each other. He says the team needs a “ruthless leader”, a quality he has yet to see in team principal Frédéric Vasseur. He considers Jean Todt, who was at Ferrari alongside Michael Schumacher, more ruthless than Vasseur is now.

Daly believes Hamilton's best years are behind him and that he has few chances left to win, which could put him in an almost desperate position. He also acknowledges Vasseur's dilemma: in his view, the team principal cannot simply tell Leclerc to let Hamilton through more often or ask Hamilton to move aside.