In 2025, Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari will join hands in one of F1’s biggest driver transfers of all time. However, this exciting scenario could have come true much before, had Toto Wolff gone ahead with his idea of swapping Hamilton for Fernando Alonso ahead of the 2015 season.
Alonso admitted to having gotten an offer during a conversation with Cadena Ser (as reported by Motorsport). This was around the time he was looking for a change in environment by leaving Ferrari. He said,
“Yes, that offer was there. The circumstances made him talk, but Ferrari didn’t want him at that point. They were in talks with me to renew until 2019, but Ferrari’s offer didn’t convince me and I left with McLaren-Honda. I don’t know if Hamilton knew it.”
But Mercedes would leave the door open for Fernando Alonso since Wolff supposedly told him: ‘if Hamilton loses the championship, we will INVITE HIM to leave the team.’
This was confirmed by Alonso the next year. [link]. https://t.co/wjWPbsHUiB
— francisca⁴⁴ (@H7MILT0N) June 17, 2024
Mercedes was reportedly not seeing eye to eye with Hamilton on several fronts ahead of the 2015 season. Ad Wolff wanted to put a lid on the drama by having Alonso come to Mercedes, and sending Hamilton to Italy. However, then-Ferrari president Marco Mattiacci didn’t want the Briton on board.
Wolff would only let Hamilton go if he failed to win the World Championship. That didn’t happen, and Alonso, who joined McLaren in 2015, decided to stay at the team till the 2019 season, a decision he insists he doesn’t regret.
Now, almost ten years later, it is Hamilton who has decided to leave Wolff and Mercedes, in pursuit of glory in Maranello.
Lewis Hamilton joins Ferrari as fate comes to haunt Toto Wolff
Hamilton won four World Championships between 2017 and 2020, becoming an invaluable asset to Mercedes and taking his overall Title tally to seven. Since then, however, Mercedes has entered a slump and Hamilton hasn’t even won a race since 2021.
Hamilton, as a result, has chosen to move to Ferrari on a two-year deal, a team that is seemingly on the ascendency. However, the timing of this move was what raised eyebrows. Hamilton and Ferrari made the transfer official just months after the Stevenage-born driver signed a two-year contract extension with the Silver Arrows.
All those years ago, Wolff may have wanted to see Hamilton go. But now that he is leaving, Wolff is worried about finding a competent replacement.
For Hamilton, however, moving to Ferrari could have been a long-standing desire for two reasons. Firstly, it was always his dream to drive for the Italian stable. Secondly, as Alonso’s revelation suggests; Hamilton and Wolff had a crack in their relationship, and the latter wanted him gone 10 years ago – something the 39-year-old kept in mind.
