Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur firmly rejected reports the team had made an offer to Lewis Hamilton.
A newspaper report earlier this week claimed the team had made an eight-figure offer to secure the services of Hamilton, whose Mercedes contract expires at the end of this season.But Vasseur made it clear no such offer had been made. “You know perfectly that at this stage of the season, you will have each week a different story,” he told media in Monaco. “And we are not sending an offer to Lewis Hamilton. We didn’t do it.”
The Ferrari boss jokingly referred to other recent stories claiming his drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr were being courted by rivals. “I could say that two weeks ago you send Sainz to Audi, one week ago you send Leclerc to Mercedes, now I’m alone!” he said.
Vasseur ran Hamilton in his GP2 (now Formula 2) team ART in 2006, winning the championship. The pair remain on good terms but there have been no contract talks, he said.
“We didn’t have discussions. I think every single team on the grid would like to have Hamilton at one stage. I think it would be bullshit to not say something like this.
“If I discuss with Hamilton, I discuss the last 20 years, I discussed almost every single weekend with Hamilton. I don’t want to have to stop to discuss with them because you are chasing me.”
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Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
25th May 2023, 13:53
I’m not sure Fred could say anything else, given how both his current drivers have contracts for 2024.
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
25th May 2023, 14:22
It’s obvious Hamilton is the one avoiding the handshake for now!
(to be considered as caption for the picture)
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
25th May 2023, 14:23
Others would argue that Vasseur already has a firm grip on Hamilton…
Patrick
25th May 2023, 14:43
Someone started the rumor. I wonder who that could be. A way to get a bigger offer from Mercedes maybe?
I bet that Lewis was hoping that Fred wouldn’t deny it.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
25th May 2023, 15:29
How, though? Fred and Toto have been buddies for a long time.
Patrick
25th May 2023, 15:46
Yes, Toto and Fred have had a friendly relationship for a long time now and they are indeed “buddies” as you say, but I doubt that that means that they share what is going on inside there respective teams with each other.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
26th May 2023, 0:07
What are the chances that your team boss doesn’t go to his buddy and asks him and gets a simple ‘no’ in response if the whole thing’s just been made up to try to squeeze said team boss for more money?
MichaelN
25th May 2023, 14:28
Too bad, it’d be a improvement to their line-up.
Forrest Gump (@forrestgump)
25th May 2023, 16:13
“Someone started the rumor. I wonder who that could be. A way to get a bigger offer from Mercedes maybe?
I bet that Lewis was hoping that Fred wouldn’t deny it.”
Exactly my thoughts… I asked myself who would benefit from such a rumor? And my answer is LH… :)
Museo
25th May 2023, 18:26
Won’t be the first time Ferrari denies something and the next week “Official: Lewis Hamilton joins Ferrari”, but yeah I wouldn’t bet my house on it.
pastaman
25th May 2023, 22:11
Which is worse:
* Creating the rumor
* Incessantly asking questions about the rumor
* Writing an article based on the responses to the incessant questions about the rumor
* Commenting on the article based on the responses to the incessant questions about the rumor