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'Ferrari president gets zero response from Hamilton'

08:49, 12 Aug 2023

byOlly Darcy

At the beginning of this season, Lewis Hamilton was reportedly approached by Ferrari's president John Elkann, who offered the Mercedes driver a huge contract. But according to the usually well-informed Ferrari insider Leo Turrini, the seven-time world champion has only thanked Elkann for showing interest, nothing else.

Hamilton always seems to want to get the most out of it in terms of salary with his contract negotiations, but money is not the main driver. Ferrari offered much more money than Mercedes, but nevertheless, Hamilton has (still) set his sights on a new commitment with his current employer.

According to Turrini, this has everything to do with the fact that Hamilton still drives Formula 1, mainly because he is so keen to win that eighth world title. To achieve that, the British driver believes he needs to stay with Mercedes in the short term.

Deal with Mercedes not yet finalised

However, Hamilton and the German formation have been haggling over a new contract for months. For a while, it seemed that the contract extension would be made public during the Canada Grand Prix weekend, but still, the signatures have not been made. This effectively means that in four months' time, Hamilton will be free to go wherever he wants.