'Hamilton disappointed with Wolff's proposal: Ferrari did give confidence'
16:00, 06 Feb 2024
16 Comments
Lewis Hamilton was reportedly unhappy with his current Mercedes contract. This would have been one of the reasons why the Briton is leaving for Ferrari, Formula 1 reporter Lawrence Barretto reveals.
Hamilton caused a major shock in the Formula 1 world by announcing that he would leave Mercedes at the end of 2024. As it turned out, the Mercedes driver did not have a contract through 2025 as had been communicated by Mercedes, but a 1+1 year deal. This will allow Lewis to drive for Ferrari in 2025.
Why Hamilton wanted to leave Mercedes
This contract was also said to have been a major reason for Hamilton's departure, according to Barretto in the F1 Nation Podcast. According to the Formula1.com reporter, Hamilton himself would have asked for a new three-year deal. However, Toto Wolff came back with the 1+1 deal and that was against Hamilton's wishes.
Hamilton already had good contact with Ferrari CEO John Elkann and he smelt his opportunity. Elkann offered Hamilton what Mercedes was no longer willing to do: a multi-year deal. This confidence would have won Hamilton over to make the switch in 2025.
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Hello everyone!
I am a Ferrari fan myself! But if i were Hamilton i wouldn't accept the offer from Ferrari! In terms of a potential championship winning, i doubt that Ferrari can match Red Bull and Mercedes Benz!
But if he joined Ferrari for the money and don't care if he wins or loses that's another story!
But if he got insurance from Ferrari that they will sign let's say Newey and some "geniuses" from other teams then he might have a chance of winning the 8th title!
Personally i hope he doesn't!
I'd prefer leclerc win it!
But until then fingers crossed!
Cheers
Honestly many drivers would love to drive for Ferrari, he got a great deal to fulfill a childhood dream, easy as that
Lewis needs to be loved, meaning money and trust else he cannot perform.
Hamilton was dead right to leave for Ferrari. They are the only team to have one a race in 2023 and they were offering him a potential 100 million dollars per year, including endorsements and performance related bonuses. This is cheap for Ferrari, because upon signing Hamilton for 2025 and going public, their share price rose by 10%, equal to seven billion dollars. Lewis Hamilton is very marketable and will further help the Ferrari brand. After performing a test for Pirelli, including Aston Martin, Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes couldn't match Aston Martin's pace. That is not a good omen for Mercedes.
I know team 44 is trying to cover it up but the fact that toto tell him that they are going to focus on george it startled the champ to look elsewhere... question who is up to bust the blls of george? albon has been proven to not have the mental strenght? riccardio is donde with the sport is just a marketing gimmick at these point... robottas 5.0? oliver who?
These year is gonna be fun the silly season... if i had to put my money, would definitively put all my money on CheGO... brings RB knowloedge, its not as fast as the main guy, brings marketing and it cost less money and would let bearman cook for the next 2 years at williams.
Wow
Hi, are you able to share source of insight?
Really will be interesting the team dynamic between Lewis and Merc this year.
The split is looking less and less like it was what both sides wanted and the Merc board may be a little concerned.
I think a announcement a quarter into the season would have been better timed,plus Ham would have known for a fact that the car was either there or not.
From what I read, it was the Merc's board fault that Hamilton got offered that contract.
Toto said he would have given Lewis what he wanted, but this came from above.
So I guess Lewis isn't moving because he's mad at Toto.
And as the contract wasn't satisfying, the dream Lewis has had to race for Ferrari was there too, so when this massive offer came... that was that.
In essence, that Mercedes are losing Lewis, I think the blame can be put squarely on the Mercedes board.
Agreed,I doubt Ham has any thing negative to say about the team itself,but I never thought anyone would lure him away.
Still think the timing of the announcement was a bit off,team members would have been looking forward to the launch,testing and getting the season underway.I think a lot of them wokr up to a nasty surprise
No I don't think he has any hard feelings with the team itself.
Well the team will still have Lewis for the entirety of the 2024 season. So they should just focus on that and try to give Lewis the best car they can and the opportunities to win, and Lewis, I'm sure will give his best to the team until the last lap of the last race.
Exactly. So clearly Ferarri valued and wanted Lewis more at this point in time. I was disappointed initially but if that's the case then I'm happy for the switch. Let's see.
It's about self-explanatory that the contract has been a reason, if not the only reason.
It took them way longer to negotiate than it was in the past. Also that HAM signed with Ferrari only a couple of months after having announced the new contract with MB.
I guess we will not the exact details any time soon. Perhaps we will never know at all.
It does bring up the question as to why Lewis would sign that 1+1 contract with Mercedes to begin with. Why not sign with Ferrari for 2024 instead? Sainz didn't get his 1 year contract renewal until very late.
As far as I can tell, SAI had already a contract for 2024. The last negotiations were about after 2024.
If not, then we should ask HAM this question.
Ah yes, my mistake. In April 2022, Sainz signed a contract extension for 2023 and 2024.
All the latest contract talk about Sainz in the last few months were about him NOT getting a contract beyond 2024.