Jean Todt is not sure Lewis Hamilton’s arrival alone will be enough to propel Ferrari back to world championship glory.
When the fabled team’s former boss Todt signed the then two-time champion Michael Schumacher for 1996, it then took him five full years to win a third title.
"Hamilton’s arrival will give the fans a Ferrari at nine (out of 10)," the Frenchman reportedly told Bild newspaper, as reported by Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"My Ferrari in the now-distant 1993 was a five," 78-year-old Todt, also a former FIA president, added. "Everyone is now wondering if it (Hamilton’s arrival) will be enough to aim for the world title.
"Will it be enough to reach the objective?" he said. "To win the championship, you have to be perfect. The Ferrari of the recent period has sometimes found itself fighting for the world championship, but without ever succeeding in the enterprise.
"The last step, the decisive one, was missing."
Todt thinks the ’last step’ for Ferrari will need to involve more than just signing Hamilton, the 39-year-old seven-time world champion.
"Currently, other teams have more opportunities, like Red Bull," he said. "Ferrari will have to work to follow their example.
"There will always be two excellent drivers in Maranello," Todt continued. "After all, it is everyone’s dream to drive a red single-seater. Yet even Michael, when he arrived at Ferrari, had to wait four years before winning his first title with us.
"Patience and work are required," he said.