Lewis in talks with Ferrari

FERRARI have admitted for the first time that they have held discussions with Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton’s £40million-a-year deal with Mercedes is up at the end of next year. And Ferrari chief executive Louis Camilleri said: ‘It has been made public that Lewis has had conversations with our chairman.

‘We clearly are very flattered that Lewis in particular, and other drivers, want to come and join us.

‘We have a long-term agreement with one driver (Charles Leclerc) and with the other driver (Sebastian Vettel) the agreement expires at the end of 2020. It would be premature to decide anything now. We will look at our options and see what is the best fit for our team.’

Hamilton ( right) has said that any move would depend on the future of Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. The Austrian wants to replace Liberty Media’s moustachioed American Chase Carey, who is likely to relinquish his post as CEO of Formula One in the next 18 months.

But Camilleri has threatened to use Ferrari’s veto to prevent this happening. Asked directly about Wolff’s chances of landing the top job, Camilleri replied: ‘Anybody who’s been an active and important player in a certain team within the last few years taking on the responsibility would automatically create conflicts of interest, perceived or otherwise.

‘It would not be good that such a person should ultimately run F1. The veto is a sort of last, last resort tool. Should we be confronted with (the prospect of Wolff) we would explain our position clearly to the folks at Liberty.

‘You need a CEO who has experience in the entertainment world.’