'Ferrari chief in talks with Hamilton, giant contract offered'

Lewis Hamilton potentially preparing a move to Ferrari, and vice-versa, is a story that has been appearing more and more recently. Now it is claimed that Ferrari president John Elkann himself is already in talks with Lewis Hamilton for a seat in the historical Formula One team.

With things not going well at Mercedes for two years now and also already seeming clear that Hamilton cannot get his eighth title with the team in 2023, the 38-year-old seven-time F1 champion is being watched closely. Where can the Brit go in order to break Michael Schumacher's record of seven F1 titles? Hamilton has been linked with Ferrari before, but Dailymail.com now reports that talks are actually taking place.

At least, that's what the newspaper has heard from highly placed British and Italian sources. There are no confirmations, but Daily Mail reports that Ferrari is willing to put down a lot of money for the Mercedes driver. A figure of 40 million pounds is mentioned, and more if necessary. Elkann himself is said to be conducting the talks with the driver.

This would mean that Ferrari are also willing to let one of their current drivers go. One option is to let Carlos Sainz go to another team. In that case, Hamilton would come in at the team that has been heavily centred on Charles Leclerc in recent years. The newspaper is also talking about a second option, with Leclerc leaving the Scuderia and swapping with Hamilton's spot at Mercedes.