Ferrari ‘set to offer Hamilton £40 million deal’
LEWIS HAMILTON could fulfil a childhood dream by agreeing a £40 million deal to leave Mercedes for Ferrari at the end of the current F1 season.
The 38-year-old has watched on as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen picked up back-to-back titles including a very controversial first - with Mercedes car struggles continuing into 2023.
A seven-time world championship winner and level with Michael Schumacher, the Brit could be tempted to the famous red colours for the 2024 campaign in a bid to stand on his own in front.
The Daily Mail report that Ferrari chairman John Elkann is already in ‘close contact’ with the 38-year-old as he enters the final months of his current contract.
The report adds that a £40m deal could be put on the table in a bid to partner Hamilton with Charles Leclerc at the expense of Carlos Sainz Jr.
Although money is not thought to be a factor, Hamilton’s current salary of £40m “would be matched” in any deal, with Mercedes currently sitting third in the constructors championship below Red Bull and Aston Martin.
Back in 2021, Hamilton said when asked about racing for Ferrari, where Schumacher won five of his seven world titles: “It’s definitely going to be crazy to think that I never drove for Ferrari.”
He added in his chat with Sky Sports: “Of course I look at the colour and the red, it’s just... it’s still the red.
“I have a couple of Ferraris at home, so I do get to drive a Ferrari, just not the one!”
Hamilton has only been on the podium once so far this season in Austria, having won six of seven available world titles between 2014 and 2020.
Sky Sports presenter Simon Lazenby recently said of his plans: “Not to Aston, but how can you rule out a move to Ferrari if (Mercedes) stay like this?
“He’s so desperate for that eighth, that if Ferrari did manage to stay on the coattails and they were the nearest to Red Bull.”