F1: Lewis Hamilton confirms Ferrari talks and makes Mercedes confession
F1: Lewis Hamilton has confirmed previous talks with Ferrari
PA
Lewis Hamilton has confirmed he has had 'irrelevant conversations' with Ferrari.
However, he never wanted to leave Mercedes for their F1 rivals because he's not ready for a move to Italy.
Hamilton signed a new Mercedes contract at the end of August, ending speculation over his long-term future in the process.
But many have always believed there's a chance the Stevenage-born racer would join Ferrari if the opportunity arose.
Lewis Hamilton signed a new deal with Mercedes last month with the F1 veteran still going strong
PA
Now, speaking to Swiss newspaper Blick, Hamilton has confirmed talks with Ferrari.
Yet he's also made it clear he isn't interested in joining the team and he was merely speaking to those he knows well.
"Okay, we've definitely had a few irrelevant conversations," he said.
"I know a lot of good people there.
"But I never felt ready to move to Italy."
Hamilton also confessed he was eager to know every single detail of his new Mercedes deal.
The Brit's decision to stay with the Silver Arrows comes at a time when he's struggling to reel in Red Bull star Max Verstappen.
And Hamilton has admitted his contracts with Mercedes have changed over the years amid all the success he's achieved.
"Of course, I want to know exactly what's in there," he added.
"It used to be 80 pages long, but now it's over 200 pages or a darn book. And that takes you days!"
Negotiations with Mercedes were also tough, with Hamilton admitting he 'haggled' with Toto Wolff during talks.
“This is not the first time that the two of us discussed for hours and haggled over details," added the 38-year-old.
“Always under the motto: From Thursday to Sunday, I belong exclusively to Formula 1.
“There are so many details about my promotional activities.
"I’m in a happy position with Toto. He is respected and admired by everyone.
"It’s easy to negotiate with him. And that makes him a great leader.”
Hamilton agreed a new deal with Mercedes at the same time as team-mate George Russell.
Russell will be staying with the Silver Arrows until 2025 but has struggled for form so far this year.
And ex-Ferrari and Williams manager Peter Windsor thinks Hamilton would prefer to be racing alongside Valtteri Bottas, instead of Russell.
Speaking after the Japanese Grand Prix, he said: “The point is this should also be seen in the context of Lewis telling Toto endlessly to keep Valtteri, ‘He’s exactly the right guy’, and [Toto saying] ‘No no, no, we’ve got to have the next generation, George is the next generation, and quicker.’
“I blame a lot of the press for that because a lot of them were saying ‘Oh, you know Valtteri isn’t quick enough, George is quicker’ and, of course, then he won that race.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has been hailed by Lewis Hamilton
PA
“I just come back to my thing of… if you’ve got Lewis, you don’t actually need George.
"If you’ve got George, you don’t need Lewis.
"It’s an imbalanced team, always has been, always will be, and that is the problem with it.”
You may like
