Lewis Hamilton would be welcome at Ferrari, says Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton would be a major asset to Ferrari, according to the team’s outstanding young driver Charles Leclerc. His comments came after Hamilton refused to rule out a move to the Scuderia and Ferrari gave a complimentary reaction on his availability to join them in 2021.
Hamilton won the last grand prix of the season in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, having already secured his sixth world championship. His contract with Mercedes is up at the end of next season.
On Saturday the Ferrari team principal, Mattia Binotto, praised Hamilton as an outstanding driver and noted he had the chance to join a new team in 2021 that would “make Ferrari happy”.
Leclerc has enjoyed a remarkable first season with Ferrari. He had seven poles and two wins and comfortably beat his teammate Sebastian Vettel on points. The 22-year-old would relish the chance to have Hamilton alongside him.
“Of course I would welcome Lewis,” he said. “We are in F1 and we want to fight against the best. I have had a big opportunity to have had Seb next to me who is a four-times world champion and I have learned a lot from him, so you can always learn from these types of champions.”
Hamilton is 34 and has completed 13 seasons in F1. Any team change is almost certain to be his last. On Sunday he declined to deny reports from Gazzetta dello Sport that he has already had two meetings with the Ferrari president, John Elkann.
Hamilton has been with Mercedes since 2013 and has won five of his six titles with them but Toto Wolff said a move to Ferrari was credible. “When Lewis left McLaren for Mercedes everyone said he was making a mistake,” the Mercedes team chief said, “but he proved them wrong. So I won’t make the mistake of underestimating Ferrari’s potential.”
Wolff is seen as a candidate to take over the running of F1 and Hamilton admitted the decision Wolff makes may influence his own. “I know Toto is also looking at his options and only he will know what is the best thing for him and his family,” he said. “So I’m waiting to see what he’s doing with that.”
Binotto said discussions about signing Hamilton were premature. “It is far too early to talk about it,” he said. “The 2019 season is just ending and we are all focused on 2020, which is the most important thing.”