{"id":291188,"date":"2023-10-04T23:25:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T23:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=291188"},"modified":"2023-10-04T23:25:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T23:25:00","slug":"hamilton-admits-he-spoke-to-ferrari-before-signing-100m-mercedes-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/racing\/f1\/hamilton-admits-he-spoke-to-ferrari-before-signing-100m-mercedes-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamilton admits he spoke to Ferrari before signing \u00a3100M Mercedes deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Lewis Hamilton finally admits that he spoke to Ferrari before signing his new \u00a3100M deal with Mercedes &#8211; but added that the &#8216;casual&#8217; conversations never saw him receive an offer from the Italian team<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lewis Hamilton has opened up on speculation that he could have joined Ferrari\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The seven-time world champion said he was &#8216;never&#8217; made an offer by the team\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>It comes amid large speculation that Hamilton could have left Mercedes\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lewis Hamilton has finally admitted he spoke to Ferrari before signing his new \u00a3100million deal to stay at Mercedes.<\/p>\n<p>As Mail Sport revealed in May, the seven-time world champion was in dialogue with Formula One\u2019s most famous team as he weighed up where to spend the last of the best years of his career.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Hamilton, 38, denied any contact had been made.<\/p>\n<p>Asked ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix if there had been an approach from the Scuderia, he said \u2018no\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was also pressed into denying the red team made any attempt to sign Hamilton.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/04\/18\/76167925-0-image-a-1_1696440103417.jpg\" height=\"476\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Lewis Hamilton has opened up on speculation that he was close to a shock move from Mercedes to Formula 1 rivals Ferrari<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/04\/18\/76168049-0-image-a-2_1696440116488.jpg\" height=\"444\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Speculation had been bubbling this summer that the driver was linked with a switch to Ferrari\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/04\/18\/76170997-0-image-a-6_1696440233700.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Team Principal Frederic Vasseur (second right) was also questioned over the subject\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That was despite Mail Sport&#8217;s revelation that Hamilton spoke to Ferrari president John Elkann &#8211; either as a negotiating ploy or in seriousness.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the courtship, Hamilton committed himself to Mercedes at the end of August, signing a two-year deal worth \u00a350m per annum, which takes him to the age of 40.<\/p>\n<p>But now Hamilton has come clean &#8211; partly &#8211; by admitting their wire was contact without going into detail on the full extent of the discussions.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Swiss outlet Blick, Hamilton shared: &#8216;Okay, we&#8217;ve definitely had a few casual conversations. I know a lot of good people there. But I never felt ready to move to Italy.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>When asked whether Ferrari had offered him a deal, he said: &#8216;Never&#8217;.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton&#8217;s new deal with Mercedes will see him become the joint top earner, alongside Max Verstappen, in the sport, but the decision did not always seem straightforward.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The seven-time champion has been vocal about his struggles with the Mercedes over the last two seasons.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/04\/18\/76168091-0-image-a-7_1696440256256.jpg\" height=\"439\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>But Hamilton (pictured) signed a two-year contract to stay at Mercedes, making him the joint highest paid driver in F1, alongside Max Verstappen<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/04\/18\/76168007-0-image-a-3_1696440122364.jpg\" height=\"357\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Questions have also been raised over whether Hamilton would retire but he has said that his team-mate George Russell (right) was giving him &#8216;motivation&#8217; to keep racing\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;But it&#8217;s become a love-hate story,&#8217; Hamilton continued. &#8216;There are days when I would prefer not to get into the cockpit,&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;But then the duels with my team-mate [Russell] give me motivation. You always have to be wide awake.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The Mercedes driver finished fifth in Japan last week, with his last podium finish coming the week prior; securing third place at the Singapore Grand Prix.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He is yet to win a race this season, despite having finished second in Spain and Australia. His last win came in December 2021 in Saudi Arabia.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/formulaone\/article-12594379\/F1-star-Lewis-Hamilton-opens-speculation-left-Mercedes-rivals-Ferrari-insisting-never-received-contract-offer-Italian-team.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Lewis Hamilton finally admits that he spoke to Ferrari before signing his new \u00a3100M deal with Mercedes &#8211; but added that the &#8216;casual&#8217; conversations never <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/racing\/f1\/hamilton-admits-he-spoke-to-ferrari-before-signing-100m-mercedes-deal\/\" title=\"Hamilton admits he spoke to Ferrari before signing \u00a3100M Mercedes deal\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-291188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - 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