Update: Lewis Hamilton Man United link strengthens with ‘swoop’ for F1 legend’s former data mastermind News

Man United and Sir Jim Ratcliffe could benefit from a swoop on Mercedes Formula 1 team and strengthen ties to Lewis Hamilton

Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is considering the appointment of Mercedes Formula 1 engineer Michael Sansoni to help ‘revolutionise’ the club’s data analysis, according to reports.

Years before the 72-year-old acquired a stake in the Old Trafford club, his business INEOS have held an equal share for ownership of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team alongside the Mercedes-Benz Group AG and team principal Toto Wolff.

Now, with nothing yet confirmed, it is speculated that Ratcliffe will seek to utilise his relationships in motorsport to kickstart a revolution in one area he has previously not been shy to admit Man United are lacking.

BBC Sport have said that the club could make a swoop for Sansoni, who is set to leave the F1 team at the end of the 2025 season.

He joined Mercedes in 2014 as an engineer and in more than a decade has progressed to become a leading figure in performance simulation. Throughout this period we saw the rise of Lewis Hamilton to win six of his record-equalling seven world drivers’ championships.

The University of Southampton undergraduate was even promoted to become Hamilton’s performance engineer trackside in January 2023.

For Man United, such an appointment could help achieve two things. The first and most prominent is getting back on top on the field of play.

Data analysis is an integral part of modern football and has helped rivals reach the pinnacle at United’s expense, as Ratcliffe stressed last December. “We must have the best recruitment in the world. Data analysis comes alongside recruitment. It doesn’t really exist here. We’re still in the last century on data analysis here,” he said.

“There’s an immense amount of useful data that we can get from data analysis and we’re in the ‘very poor’ bracket with data analysis here.

“These things don’t happen overnight. You can’t just flick a light switch and sort out recruitment. It’s all about people and we need to find the right people.”

The other more speculative side of Sansoni leading a data revolution at Old Trafford is strengthening the club’s ties with F1 legend Hamilton.

The 40-year-old has previously been talked up for an involvement at Man United alongside Ratcliffe, of whom (as per talkSPORT) he has said: “I am very close with Jim, so I am aware of where he is at [with United]. We talk a lot about football as he is very passionate about it.

“We have great discussions about what his team is doing, we talk about how Arsenal (the team who Hamilton supports) is playing. Obviously, he is from Manchester, so that is his dream home… where he comes from. But there is no further information I can give you on that.

“Jim’s part boss but a partner – I’d say we’re more partners because we’re in this together, and I hope in future to do something with Jim and build with him.

“I don’t know where that will be or what that will be, so I can’t really say. I haven’t had a call from him asking if I want to be involved in [a Man United takeover bid] just yet…

“But I do want to get more and more involved in teams because I really do believe in black ownership – there is a lack of it in sports – and black equity. Again, there is a real lack of that.”

Hamilton has just embarked on his latest venture in F1 by leaving Mercedes and joining Ferrari on a ‘multi-year deal’, reported to be for two seasons. Afterwards his career path is unclear therefore he could retire and with a net worth of £350m according to The Sunday Times’ 2024 rich list, could enter the world of investment full-time.