Guenther Steiner has suggested that Lewis Hamilton is in somewhat of a conflict with Ferrari, as the only F1 driver on the grid who could be considered “above” his team. The former Haas team principal recently discussed whether F1 drivers’ rise in prominence as celebrities after the sport’s surge in popularity has become an issue.
But Steiner believes that Hamilton is the only athlete on the current grid who has reached unmatched levels of superstardom, insisting none of his competitors are bigger than their respective teams. During an appearance on the Business of Sport podcast, he said: “It’s a combination, and again, we have got the perfect example here.
“In Formula 1, the only one above a team is Lewis Hamilton. What do you call his presence, his stature – it’s very big outside of the sport as well.
“You’re big in the sport, but then when you get big outside of the sport, you’re bigger than the actual team.
“It’s the same in football. It happens. So, in Formula 1, the only one who can claim that one is Lewis, at the moment.
“Max [Verstappen] is very big in the sport, but he doesn’t work on being somebody outside of the sport because for him, his life is racing cars.
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“Meanwhile, Lewis has got another thing as well, what he wants to achieve in life. And we see it now with Lewis and Ferrari.
“They are two huge brands together, and it’s almost sometimes a conflict. Who is bigger, Ferrari or Lewis?”
Hamilton is one of the world’s biggest sporting names, having won seven world championships, six of them during an era of dominance at Mercedes.
He ended his 12-year affiliation with the Silver Arrows in a blockbuster switch to Ferrari for the 2025 season, sparking a 10 per cent rise in the Scuderia’s share price.
But Steiner has diffused suggestions that Ferrari need a driver of Hamilton’s star power to boost their brand, admitting his disappointment with how the partnership has started.
“No. Because I don’t think Ferrari needs that,” Steiner responded when asked if he would have signed Hamilton to Ferrari for the ‘Lewis factor’,” the Italian added.
“That’s my opinion. And again, I’m not running Ferrari as a corporate. It’s a cool story, to be honest. A seven-time world champion going to Ferrari.
“Ferrari was doing good, but I think we put the expectations so high. So now we got a little bit – the expectations were not fulfilled. We are a little bit, ‘Oh, this doesn’t work,’ and now we’re depressed about it.”