Hamilton made the move to Ferrari from Mercedes over the winter as he aims to add an eighth F1 world title.

Ferrari chairman John Elkann has denounced comments from former Scuderia F1 driver Jacky Ickx suggesting the move to hire Lewis Hamilton was for “marketing reasons”.

Hamilton has made the switch from Mercedes to the Maranello-based team in one of the most highly-anticipated market moves in F1 history, replacing Carlos Sainz to partner Charles Leclerc and hunting for a record eighth drivers’ title.

But Ickx, who won six of his eight F1 races with Ferrari, has criticised the move. Speaking to Mundo Deportivo at January’s Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, Ickx said: “Carlos Sainz has done very well at Ferrari.

“Ferrari were tempted to sign Hamilton, probably for marketing reasons, and probably because Lewis wanted a new experience and to include Ferrari in his history. We’ll see.”

Elkann: “Lewis doesn’t need that.”

But Elkann, who has been highlighted as a key part of the deal to take Hamilton to Ferrari and was spotted talking to the seven-time world champion in the garage during the second morning of pre-season testing in Bahrain, has hit back at Belgian legend Ickx.

As part of a wide-ranging interview with Hamilton in TIME Magazine, Elkann explained: “I think it’s really unfair to Lewis, some of the comments saying, ‘This is a marketing operation’.

“Truth said, Lewis doesn’t need that. Ferrari doesn’t need that. What we need to do is win championships and do great things on the track. If that happens, what we can do outside of the track, in some ways, takes care of itself. There’s unlimited possibilities.”

An area where Hamilton is expected to make a difference away from track matters is Ferrari‘s diversity, which he says is akin to the start of his time with Mercedes.

Since, through various initiatives including Accelerate 25 and work done by Mission 44, Mercedes‘ workforce diversity has expanded – something Hamilton wants to replicate at the Scuderia.

On that subject, team principal Fred Vasseur said: “It’s not politically correct, but first is performance.

“I’m keen to go into the direction of diversity and so on. We are doing our best effort. We are trying to push in this direction, but I want to build up the best team.”

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