F1 News
Hamilton did not want to test for Ferrari: 'Does not get me excited'
- Ludo van Denderen
The countdown is dwindling: The 2024 F1 season will be over in just over a week. Soon after, the focus will turn to the next year. Teams started switching over to their 2025 mindset as early as the Tuesday after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as that is when the Pirelli tyre test is scheduled. Carlos Sainz will leave Ferrari and join Williams, his new team, for their test. However, Lewis Hamilton will not be joining Ferrari in theirs.
According to Hamilton, Fred Vasseur, Ferrari's team boss, was keen for Hamilton to drive a Ferrari F1 car in Abu Dhabi for the first time. "I was in two minds," the Briton told GPblog and others. "Driving the red car for the first time in Abu Dhabi does not excite me".
He continued, "In a perfect world, you get to drive it and not be seen and do the first rollout next year. When I did raise it, obviously with Toto, they had all these plans that I've got to go and see some of the sponsors and say their farewells. So I don't think it was ever gonna actually be allowed, even if I had asked to have done it, but because I'm contracted to the team until December 31st, and that's totally fine".
Hamilton told Vasseur no
Indeed, if Hamilton is honest, he did not fancy this test. "This is not what I wanted to do. I told Fred this was not what I wanted to do," states Hamilton, who will not be seen in Ferrari's red until 2025.
This article was translated by Savannah Lenz.