- Lewis Hamilton is about to join Ferrari
- The Brit will fulfill his ambition to represent The Prancing Horse
- Hamilton is close to Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur
Should Lewis Hamilton’s seismic move to Ferrari materialize, it would mark a reunion between the Briton and his former mentor that has been in the works for 20 years.
The Formula 1 world was thrown into turmoil on Thursday after reports emerged that Hamilton is set to switch from Mercedes to The Prancing Horse.
Mail Sport’s Jonathan McEvoy understands that the seven-time world champion has actually secured a seat at the Scuderia as early as the 2025 season.
He currently earns £50 million a year at Mercedes, where he has won six of his seven world championships and has previously expressed a desire to remain in the sport for the remainder of his time.
But that seems likely to change in a move that will breathe new life into Formula 1.
Lewis Hamilton could be reunited with his good friend and mentor Fred Vasseur
The Frenchman helped Hamilton get his chance in Formula 1 twenty years ago
And one man certainly had a major influence in luring Hamilton to Ferrari: Fred Vasseur.
The new Ferrari team boss has a special bond with Hamilton, so it will come as no surprise that the Brit would like to work with the Frenchman again.
Hamilton won the Formula Three and GP2 (now Formula Two) championships with Vasseur’s ART team in 2005 and 2006 before making a spectacular Formula 1 debut with McLaren in 2007.
“I speak to him at every GP, he raced for me 20 years ago and we are still close,” Vasseur, who joined Ferrari in January 2023, told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport last season.
‘Obviously when they (the media) see us together in the paddock there is a lot of fuss, but the relationship has remained.
“I don’t want to compare him to our drivers, that wouldn’t make sense.”
However, it appears Ferrari will recruit Hamilton in place of Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard’s contract negotiations came to a standstill in December.
They talk regularly, and Vasseur admits that they chat almost every week
Hamilton could line up alongside Charles Leclerc (left) for the 2025 season
Formula 1 expert Will Buxton reflected on Hamilton’s special relationship with Vasseur after the bomb news on Thursday.
“It would be a great thing if Lewis were to work with Fred at Ferrari again,” he said.
‘He was responsible for creating the power of the young sensation that shocked the establishment twenty years ago.
‘A last dance to write history together would be poetic and very special.’
Before his last appearance in Maranello, Vasseur worked as a team leader at Renault and Sauber.