“Everybody is a Ferrari fan. Even if they say they’re not, they are Ferrari fans,” said Sebastian Vettel in 2016. The same has turned out to be true for a former F1 driver who also happens to be an admirer of Lewis Hamilton. And as one would expect, he regrets not seeing the 7-time champ don the red overalls. If rumors are to be believed, Hamilton did come close to signing for the Maranello-based team in 2023 before extending his Mercedes stay till 2025.
That Lewis Hamilton-Ferrari fan is none other than Timo Glock, the man who unintentionally helped the Briton win his first world championship. In a recent interview with BettingSites.co.uk, the former Toyota driver laughed off the notion of Hamilton losing his talent. As quoted by FormulaPassion, he also cited that “perhaps it would have been nice to see him in a Ferrari”.
Glock further hyped Hamilton’s prowess by saying, “Maybe if he was over 50, but Lewis is still there, and if he has the right package he is capable of being world champion again.”
Despite his wish to see Hamilton at Ferrari, Glock acknowledges that Hamilton’s decision to stay with the Silver Arrows was correct. “… if you look at the facts, the biggest chance to win the championship is with Mercedes, because he wouldn’t have moved to Red Bull. The decision to stay where he is was the right one,” he added.
Ferrari is pushing to sign Lewis Hamilton by offering him 40 million pounds
(50 million USD) deal pic.twitter.com/47X21sSfpm— MenaGrandPrixEN (@MenaGrandPrixEn) May 22, 2023
As per reports, Ferrari offered Hamilton a $50 million-a-year contract earlier in 2023. Both parties rubbished the claims before and even after the Mercedes ace signed an extension.
The Briton stressed his loyalty to his current team. This was despite Toto Wolff’s clear warning to the team that the champion driver would leave if they failed to deliver him the record-breaking 8th world championship. Hamilton, however, is committed to steering the team back to the top.
Lewis Hamilton & Mercedes working together to challenge Red Bull in 2024
Hamilton is going through the biggest win drought of his F1 career. It’s been two seasons where he failed to register a win. This has led to experts wondering if he is beginning to lose patience with Mercedes. Regardless of whether such rumors are true, the 39-year-old is working tirelessly in the off-season to help Mercedes deliver a worthy car. He recently visited the Brackley factory and delivered a positive review of the numbers coming out of the wind tunnel.
The 2023 season was a bitter-sweet experience for the Silver Arrows. While they once again failed to pose any sort of challenge to Red Bull for the championship, they were able to secure the runner-up position in the constructors’ championship.
Moreover, Hamilton came mighty close to doing the same in the drivers’ standings. A struggling Sergio Perez, however, pulled through in the final couple of races to seal the spot.
Toto Wolff terms both Mercedes and Ferrari as losers behind Red Bull on the topic of P2 vs P3.
He does notes P2 bring more money, while P3 has the wind tunnel time advantage:https://t.co/yzNmFUHOis #F1 | @MsportXtra pic.twitter.com/hjcofdTk0h
— Darshan Chokhani (@DarshanChokhani) January 7, 2024
The failure to climb back to the top is beginning to get on the Brackley-based team’s nerves. The team scrapped its failed concept from 2022 in the middle of the 2023 season. Now, they are ready to again start from scratch, ahead of the 2024 season. Will they find success with the brand new concept or should they have continued to build on the current one? Only time will tell.
