Ferrari CEO John Elkann claimed that Lewis Hamilton won’t be coming to Ferrari from Mercedes next year to “enjoy his retirement”. The seven-time world champion surprised everyone with his announcement in early February after he said that he would be joining the Italian team after spending 12 years with the Brackley-based outfit.
The news of him joining Ferrari was even more shocking as he had signed a contract extension with the German team in August 2023 that would see him race for them until the end of 2025.
Elkann, who is worth $2.6 billion, told Corriere dello Sport that Lewis Hamilton, who would be joining Ferrari as a 40-year-old, does not intend to sit back and relax. Instead, Hamilton will aim to win his eighth world championship while the Italian team also wishes to end their 16-year drought for a title. He said (via PlanetF1):
“Some things happen very quickly. This was the moment when he and Ferrari found each other. He wants to win the eighth title, Ferrari wants to win and with Lewis, they are stronger. He doesn’t come to Ferrari to enjoy his retirement and it’s important to have motivated people around, who want to win,” Elkann said.
Mercedes F1 director gives his take on Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin claimed that it would be tough for the 39-year-old to break Ferrari’s World Championship drought.
Speaking to RacingNews365, Shovlin talked about the task in front of Lewis Hamilton and said:
“As I said, if we were dominating a championship, I suspect it would have been difficult for him to do that [join Ferrari]. But I think a big part of Lewis is wanting to have another team and another challenge in his career. I think when someone’s decided that they want to do that, it can be quite difficult to persuade them otherwise.”
He also added that it would be difficult for the seven-time world champion to make the move if Mercedes were still winning world championships:
“I think if we’d been winning championships, it would have been difficult for Lewis to say no. However, I think his biggest reasons are not necessarily ones of car performance.”
Shovlin, who is one of the key figures behind the German teams’ success over the last decade, claimed that Lewis Hamilton was at that stage of his career, where if he wanted to embark on a new challenge, he would need to do it as soon as possible.
In his final season with Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton scored two victories in the first half of the season, becoming the only driver after Max Verstappen to achieve the feat. He is currently P6 in the driver’s championship with 150 points and is 12 points behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz with 10 races and three sprints remaining in the 2024 season.