Over the past few weeks, there have been several rumors of Lewis Hamilton potentially moving to Ferrari next year. While all parties involved have rubbished these rumors, the speculations just do not stop. And Charles Leclerc’s latest remarks during his presser may have just intensified these rumors.
When told that there has been a little bit of speculation in the media recently about who could be his future partner at Ferrari, Leclerc began his reply by hilariously stating, “Hello Lewis“. He then added that irrespective of who is his teammate, he wants them to be fast to push him even harder. However, he made it clear that it is not he who decides who would be his teammate for next season.
“There’s been a bit of speculation in the media recently…” #MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/I8lBmKXOds
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 25, 2023
When pushed further if he would welcome Hamilton, Leclerc replied, “If I say yes, I imagine it being the title of every newspaper. But, I mean, Lewis is such an incredible driver. He has achieved so much in the sport. So, I think anybody on the grid would love to have Lewis as a teammate, as everybody will learn a lot from him“.
F1 fans believe Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari may actually happen
Charles Leclerc‘s reply seems to have excited several fans such as Masmar, who believe that Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari could actually happen.
Lewis to Ferrari might actually happen???????
— Masmar 🇲🇦 (@klaarlichtedag) May 25, 2023
On the other hand, some other fans such as Berkay paid close attention to the way Leclerc had difficulty in ‘picking his words correctly‘ while replying to the question. With this in mind, they posted a hilarious meme of the Monegasque overthinking his words.
Charles picking his words correctly while he was talking: pic.twitter.com/oFSlaoJdTC
— Berkay (@bdotsenol) May 25, 2023
Then, there were some other fans such as Andres who were extremely impressed with Leclerc’s reply, calling him the ‘king of diplomacy‘.
excelent answer from Charles, the king of diplomacy.
— Andrés (@andreducorb) May 25, 2023
And then there were also some fans such as Jordi who seemed unsure if everyone on the current grid would like to have Hamilton as their teammate. They hilariously put up an image of Fernando Alonso, who did not share the best of partnerships with the Briton during their McLaren days back in 2007.
“Anybody on the grid would love to have Lewis as a teammate” pic.twitter.com/Jsglk28sGm
— Jordi Carranza 🌻 (@jordicd) May 25, 2023
‘End of having a contract’: Hamilton responds to the rumors
While speaking to reporters (as quoted by F1.com), Lewis Hamilton said that he is close to agreeing on a contract extension with Mercedes. He said that his team had been working closely with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff behind the scenes and that significant progress had been made in the discussions.
The Briton said that he wants to leave the negotiations to his team as they are ‘very stressful‘. Hamilton then concluded his remarks by stating that he is keen on completely focusing his attention on racing. The 38-year-old will now take part in this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix after a decent start to the season.
Hamilton is currently fourth in the championship with 56 points, 19 points behind third-placed Fernando Alonso. When it comes to results, he has so far had two fifth and two sixth-place finishes other than an outstanding second-place finish in Australia.
