© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Ferrari vice chairman Pietro Ferrari, the son of Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari, comments on Lewis Hamilton’s arrival to his team and describes their interactions.
Lewis Hamilton will be joining Ferrari in 2025, so it is very interesting to hear what the son of Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari, and current Ferrari vice chairman, Pietro Ferrari thinks of this surprising development.
In a talk with Italian journalist Leo Turrini, Ferrari described his previous interactions with the seven-time world champion.
“Maybe not everyone knows that Lewis has always been sensitive to the Cavallino’s [‘Little Horse’, a nickname for Ferrari] charm,” he said.
“He is a client of ours, and has even visited multiple times our factory. He used to come in order to buy some of our cars.
“Not only is he a speed ace, he also truly loves supercars, and ours could never be missed in his garage. In particular, the LaFerrari model.
“Hamilton had come to Maranello to give the directions needed in the preparations of the car, and on the occasion we cordially met. He also told me something that impressed me.
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“We had [Sebastian] Vettel in our team, and we were pleased with Seb, who had recently renewed. The German was doing well.
“Lewis made a joke: If you guys had only waited twelve months I could have come…”
When Turrini asked if Lewis might have already been thinking about a move back then, Ferrari said:
“I don’t think so, he had and still is having an amazing partnership with Mercedes. But obviously, as I was saying earlier, he’s never been indifferent to our history.
“He is also very devoted to the legend of motorsport, as a child his idol was Senna and in 2013 at Mercedes he replaced Michael Schumacher…”
As for his own personal feelings on the signing, Ferrari said:
“Personally I’m very happy. A figure like Lewis is the perfect partner for the Ferrari myth.”
He also said he doesn’t believe there will be any problems between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, when they become team-mates.
“No, Charles is a champion in the making, Ferrari believes in him and has shown it, I think. Hamilton is Hamilton, I don’t see why they should fight.”
Hamilton’s signing was announced a full year before the switch actually happens, which means he still has a year to go with Mercedes, while Ferrari has a year with Carlos Sainz.
Asked about the timing of the announcement, and if this could cause any issues within the teams, Ferrari said:
“We’re talking about professionals, this kind of things in Formula 1 aren’t unusual.
“In 2006 at the beginning of the season [Fernando] Alonso announced that he was going to drive for McLaren in 2007, but in the meantime he competed and won the title with Renault,” he concluded.
