Sir Jackie Stewart believes Lewis Hamilton is taking a risk moving to Mercedes but understands it's what he needs to do to "grow up".
Last year Hamilton confirmed he would be ending his 14-year association with McLaren and heading to Mercedes for the 2013 F1 season.
The Brit's decision has divided many in the paddock with only time telling whether or not he has made the right choice.
"It's a risk," Stewart told Metro. "McLaren are in the business of Formula One. Major carmakers come and go. There's a risk if the Silver Arrows are not successful, it's just a five-minute board decision [to cancel the programme].
"Maybe it's a risk worth taking, and I do understand Lewis' psyche. There's an element of him wanting to grow up, he's no longer a little boy in karting.
"In some areas he felt that's how he was treated [at McLaren]. It's an emotional decision but it may not prove to be the right one."
As for his thoughts on last season, the triple world champion believes Fernando Alonso was the standout driver. Unfortunately for him, Ferrari was not the standout team.
"I thought Fernando Alonso performed exceptionally all year, given his Ferrari was not particularly competitive," he added. "However, you have to say [Red Bull's chief technical officer] Adrian Newey and Sebastian Vettel were the best package. I would have been happy with either winner."
But while the title fight was an intriguing one, Sir Stewart says his highlight was "Kimi Raikkonen winning in Abu Dhabi. It was a tremendous comeback year for him".
what do you think?
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wickhampatrick
11:15am on 8/1/2013
I quite agree with Jackie Stewart. The other downside with Mercedes is that Norbert Haug has gone because the cost of 'buying' Brawn F1 and no real results, has cost him his job and he was well known in the industry. (we'll see how Mercedes in DTM get on without him this season) You only have to look at recent events with BMW in F1. Things didn't come along as quick as they would have liked and bang..... they're gone! The other downside with a major manufacturer is whether they can sustain the high costs in line with car sales. If they are not getting income from selling cars there's no money to invest in racing. BMW again pulling out of world touring cars and sports car racing to concentrate ideas and money on DTM. Yes in the first season back (2012) they won both driver and manufacturer titles but then they have to do that again and again for the board to allow continued finance. To win and continue to win they need to pay for top drivers, so, to a certain extent a double cost. We can only wait and see what they do differently to bring success with Lewis in the team.