© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Lewis Hamilton will join Ferrari in 2025, however, his signing was announced even before the 2024 season has started. Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur explains why.
The world was shocked when it was announced that Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes at the end of 2024, to join Ferrari in 2025.
Even more surprising was the fact that the signing was announced a full year before the switch will happen.
At Ferrari’s 2024 car launch, team boss Frederic Vasseur explained why they wanted to announce Lewis’ arrival as early as they did.
“[Lewis’ signing is] a huge opportunity for the team, for sure,” Vasseur said.
“We are sure that it will be a decent step for the future and it will be a good challenge for everybody, but we want to be focused on 2024.
“We don’t want to have any kind of distraction. It’s also why we made the announcement so early, because it was important for us to be focused on 2024.”
Although it has been reported that Ferrari chairman John Elkann was the driving force behind Lewis’ signing, there’s no doubt that Vasseur played a part too.
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The Frenchman was Lewis’ team boss in GP2 (now Formula 2) back in 2006, a year before he joined Formula 1 with McLaren. He says they still have a very good relationship.
“We have a good relationship for now a bit more than 20 years. We were always in contact to speak about different things and I think it came naturally.
“I don’t know what was decisive, or what was not, but it came like this, step by step.”
Asked if the signing was unfair to Carlos Sainz, who is for now left without a 2025 F1 seat, Vasseur said:
“Unfair? I don’t know if it’s the right word, because I think for the team the opportunity of Lewis is something that you have to consider in any case. He is the guy with the biggest experience, and so it’s a huge opportunity for us.
“It has nothing to do with Carlos. Carlos did a great job last year, I’m sure that he will do a great job this year. He’s very professional. We have a very good personal relationship.
“But it is like it is, and we have to be focused on the future,” he concluded.
