Lewis Hamilton revealed that it took him little time to decide to leave Mercedes F1 and join Ferrari next year.
The Mercedes driver announced to his team at the end of last month that he would be leaving them at the end of the season to join Ferrari.
Hamilton reveals he had little time to consider an offer from Ferrari team principal, Fred Vasseur, an offer he ultimately accepted.
“It happened very quickly. I’ve known Fred for a long time and for me, I was excited about gearing up for a new year, I wasn’t really sure what the future held for me, I didn’t really know how much longer I’d be racing, but I knew I felt super motivated and excited to continue racing for Mercedes.”
“And then, the opportunity came up and I thought, ‘okay, I need to think for a second.’ I wasn’t given much time (by Fred) to think about it and I had to trust my gut. And I decided to go for it.”
“I didn’t talk to anyone about it,” he also reveals.
“I didn’t tell my parents until the day it was announced. So, no one knew. I really wanted to do this for me, by myself. In the end, I had to figure out what was going to be best for me.”
Hamilton has only changed teams once in his career, when he moved from McLaren to Mercedes in 2013. He stated he would always support his two former teams when he joins Ferrari.
“That was the hardest decision. When I left McLaren, it was a very, very hard decision as well because it was like my family. You really feel like you’re an integral part of the family and, obviously, Mercedes has played such an important role in my life and we’ve achieved so much together.”
“The fact is, I will always be a fan of Mercedes and we will always live this incredible story together. Even now, all these years after leaving McLaren, I still always watch where they are and generally always support them. And it will always be the same for me with Mercedes too.”
Hamilton Seizes Ferrari Chance: Intuition Leads Way. Hamilton Seizes Ferrari Chance: Intuition Leads Way
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