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.

Ferrari may have missed a trick by going for Lewis Hamilton (right) over Max Verstappen (left)

It could prove to be the latest notable error from Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur