Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes open door for F1 champion's Ferrari move

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes open door for Hamilton's Ferrari move

This is really gathering steam.

Matthew Scott

Sunday 1 December 2019 10:26 Updated: 10:32

Toto Wolff says he will not stand in Lewis Hamilton's way if the reigning Formula 1 champion looks to pursue a switch from Mercedes to Ferrari.

La Gazzetta dello Sport recently reported that Hamilton has twice met with Ferrari chairman John Elkann during 2019, while the Scuderia's team principal Mattia Binotto said on Friday in Abu Dhabi that he was "happy" to see Hamilton's deal expiring in 2020.

With Sebastian Vettel's contract also running out at the end of next year, the door could be open for Hamilton to make a sensational switch, something Wolff says he would not look to block if his star driver decided to move.

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Wolff said: "I'm totally okay with that. I think this is a free world and I recognise that everybody needs to explore career options, and make the best decision for themselves. Drivers and everybody else included.

"So, I have zero problem, a racing driver will always try to be in the quickest possible car, and the quickest possible car is always going to try to have the best racing driver in there. So there is a good consensus between us [over] what we are trying to achieve.

"I am totally relaxed about the situation. We need to push very hard to provide the drivers with the quickest possible car. And if we are able to do this, I'm 100 percent convinced that we will have the best possible driver line-up in the car.

"And everything points to our relationship [with Hamilton] to continue, but in life you never know. And therefore, as I said before, I am very open about this.

"I've started to embrace the fact that everybody has objectives, and needs to have the best possible opportunity for their career. In that respect, I am absolutely open for everybody to explore options.

"But obviously my personal priority as for the team would be to continue the successful journey [with Hamilton]."