sport news Ferrari flunked it. They should have signed Max Verstappen instead of Lewis ... trends now

Plenty of hoopla at the time about Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari next season. But I wonder whether the Scuderia, and their disappointingly ordinary team principal Fred Vasseur, may regret the haste with which they signed the seven-time world champion.

For Lewis, the move is undoubtedly right. He needs a new lease of life away from lacklustre Mercedes, even if his impending departure means forfeiting his right to a lifetime ambassadorial role with the Silver Arrows.

It makes a lot of commercial sense, too, for Ferrari and driver. Hamilton is the biggest global name in motor racing, as Michael Schumacher, their last super-champion was in his salad days, and the tills should ring loudly.

But it is a mistake for Ferrari, the latest of Vasseur’s (a notable other example is to have jettisoned Carlos Sainz, rather than the error-prone Charles Leclerc). If he were shrewder, he would not have signed Lewis, who will be aged 40 by the time he turns a Ferrari steering wheel in anger. He would instead have enlisted Max Verstappen, now 26 and at the peak of his powers.

It would be the Ferrari way of old. Luca di Montezemolo, team principal and president of legend, pushed Schumacher through the exit door at 37. He saw rejuvenation as a requirement, just as Sir Alex Ferguson did in a parallel world.

Not available? Well, Verstappen might be after the recent upheaval at Red Bull. He was even been persuasively linked to Mercedes, with his father Jos certainly having considered the option.

Perhaps I am being unfair on Vasseur, who cannot countermand his chairman, John Elkann.

But whoever made the call, flunked it.

Star of the season? Verstappen is a contender, but we need to give someone else a chance. My nomination is Andrea Stella, team principal of McLaren.

Just speaking to him, you detect the methodical thought process of a top engineer. He is also a decent man.

He has wrought a revolution at the team to the extent that last year’s jalopy is transformed into a race winner, even against the might of Red Bull.

Standing at the bulkhead on a flight last year, he explained in plain English – the Italian’s second language – how the secret to speed under the current regulations was all to do with the floor and the vortices generated there.

Informed by this, he has overseen a miracle the eyes can’t see.

Equal credit to his boss Zak Brown, who was smart enough to perceive Stella as the man for the job.

Is it not time we let Ayrton Senna rest in peace?

He died 30 years ago, on May 1, and those who wish

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