How F1 champion stopped Hamilton to Ferrari move happening sooner

Hamilton, Ferrari, social — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

How F1 champion stopped Hamilton to Ferrari move happening sooner

Sebastian Vettel’s 2017 Ferrari deal prevented a swoop for Lewis Hamilton

By Shay Rogers.

Thursday 8 February 2024 23:57

It's reported that Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari - he will join the Italian team in 2025 - could have happened years ago if not for the presence of Sebastian Vettel.

Signing a deal with the Scuderia in 2017 tied the four-time champion to the team until 2020, after which he ended up moving to Aston Martin.

In the midst of a championship battle with Mercedes, both sides were pleased with their driver line-ups, but it appears that Lewis Hamilton may have teased Pierro Ferrari – the son of the legendary Enzo, into thinking that a move may have been possible if they had waited another year to take a look at the driver market.

Sebastian Vettel drove for Ferrari between 2015 and 2020

Sebastian Vettel pictured alongside long-time Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in 2015

Hamilton teased a move in 2017

Ferrari told Italian journalist Leo Turrini that a visit to pick up a LaFerrari supercar and subsequent joke with the Brit left him wondering.

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"We had Vettel in the team and we were happy with Seb,” Ferrari told Turrini. “We had just renewed the contract with the German, which was going well. Lewis made a joke: if you waited twelve months, I'd come..."

Turrini questioned whether Hamilton may have been contemplating a move already in 2017, to which Ferrari replied: "I don't think so, he has lived and is still living a fantastic story with Mercedes. But certainly, as I said at the beginning, he has never been indifferent to our history.

The possibilities are endless, while one imagines that it’s almost impossible for this fairy-tale not to end the way that most picture it.

Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Mercedes Aston Martin Sebastian Vettel