Narrative shifts as Ferrari reveal earliest talks with Lewis Hamilton
Fred Vasseur sheds light on his first talks with Lewis Hamilton about signing for Ferrari.
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has opened up about when he first reached out to Lewis Hamilton over a move to F1’s most iconic team.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton is preparing to start his first season with Ferrari having completed a blockbuster switch from Mercedes after 12 years.
Hamilton rocked the F1 world by announcing he would be leaving the Silver Arrows in February last year after deciding to activate a break clause in his one-plus-one year Mercedes contract.
Ferrari team principal Vasseur has now revealed he initially approached Hamilton around the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
“We both started talking about it at the Monaco GP 2023, on May 28, my birthday to be precise,” Vasseur told AutoHebdo. “I quickly realised that it could happen.
“I knew that the desire was there on his side, that it had always been there in fact. It wasn’t possible on our side for 2024, because we had both our drivers under contract.
“Lewis had always had Ferrari in the back of his mind, and I thought the planets were aligning. For me, having Lewis with Charles was one more stone in the edifice.”
Ferrari call left Lewis Hamilton ‘shaking’
Hamilton recently recalled his reaction to the first phone call with Ferrari in an interview with TIME magazine.
“I remember getting off the phone and, like, almost shaking,” Hamilton said. “I was like, Oh God!
“I was like, Holy sh-t. I literally just signed with Mercedes. It was a lot to take in, and my emotions were really high. So I honestly had to go for a walk.”
After several days spent meditating, Hamilton said he knew a switch to Ferrari was “the right thing for me.”
"You can’t stand still for too long. I needed to throw myself into something uncomfortable again,” he added.
“Honestly, I thought all my firsts were done. Your first car, your first crash, your first date, first day of school.
“The excitement I got by the idea of, ‘This is my first time in the red suit, the first time in the Ferrari.’
“Wow. Honestly, I’ve never been so excited.”
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