Irvine urges Lewis to move to Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton has been told to reconsider his lifetime commitment to McLaren and make a move to arch-rivals Ferrari.

Northern Ireland's Eddie Irvine, who partnered Michael Schumacher at the Italian outfit, believes it is inevitable that the new world champion will find himself there.

Earlier this year, when Hamilton signed a new contract binding him to McLaren until 2012, he insisted he would be happy to remain with the team for the rest of his career.

But his mentor, McLaren chief Ron Dennis, is shortly expected to confirm that he is to step down as pit wall leader to concentrate on the company's growing sports car business.

That could influence Hamilton's future plans.

Irvine said: "Okay, so Lewis may win a couple more championships with McLaren and is loyal to Ron Dennis, but ultimately he's got to move to Ferrari. It's a different situation to being with any other team."