Last Sunday, Lewis Hamilton won his 100th race in Formula 1 at Sochi Autodrom in Russia against many odds. Another item ticked off the bucket list, but what about driving for Ferrari.
Speaking to Sky Italia after the 2021 Russian Grand Prix the unavoidable question arose: why Hamilton hasn’t put on the Red racing overalls yet?
Ferrari being F1’s longest-serving team, the most successful and most glamorous is the destination where every race driver dreams of ending up. However, Hamilton, who has seen it all and done it all in top flight, has never driven for the Scuderia.
“For many years, when I came to Monza, walking next to the fans … I could hear them saying: Come to Ferrari!” he said. “This warmed my heart, but it’s pretty amazing that I’ve never driven for Ferrari in so many years.”
Hamilton acknowledged that it is every F1 driver’s aspiration to drive a Ferrari F1 car, he said: “Because it is a dream for anyone, a goal to be achieved.
“It has never really been possible and I don’t understand exactly why,” he continued, mystified why the call from Ferrari never came.
Hamilton however has found huge success with Mercedes and has rewritten the F1 record books over and over, beating Ferrari and its drivers in the process. And he said he intends to keep doing so.
“I wish them the best and in my near future I will continue to prevent them from winning the world championship,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve seen photos of their drivers and red is always red.
“I have a couple of Ferraris at home. I can drive those, but not the Ferrari F1,” lamented the seven-time F1 champion, admitting he is a fan of the famous Scuderia.
Ferrari have had two British F1 World Champions, Mike Hawthorn (1958) and John Surtess (1964) while Nigel Mansell, il Leone was well-loved by Tifosi, he won three Grands Prix in Red.
Italian media have often speculated about Hamilton joining their team, even dreamt of it as the country’s leading racing magazine, Autosprint did some years ago in one of their editions:
