Ferrari team boss says he talks with Hamilton ‘every week’

Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur clarified that speculations regarding negotiations with Lewis Hamilton are not serious. He emphasized the longstanding relationship between the two dating back to Hamilton’s GP2 days when the seven-time Formula 1 world champion raced for the ART team, led by the Frenchman. Hamilton clinched the GP2 title with ART in 2006 under Vasseur’s guidance and made his Formula 1 debut with McLaren in 2007.

Vasseur confirmed that he spoke with Hamilton in Azerbaijan when the British driver’s future with Mercedes was still uncertain. However, in September, during the Italian Grand Prix, it was announced that Hamilton had signed a two-year extension with Mercedes, putting an end to rumors of a potential transfer to Ferrari. Vasseur also revealed that he expects Ferrari’s current drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, to renew their contracts with the team.

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“Every week or every month, I talk to Lewis, and it’s been like this for 20 years, so there’s no event here. We constantly stay in touch,” explained Vasseur. “The truth is, half of the Formula 1 drivers in the past have raced under my leadership. In Baku, we discussed Lewis’s future, and from there, it became big news. But if I signed a contract with Lewis every time we spoke, it would cost me a fortune.”

Regarding Leclerc and Sainz, Vasseur specified that Ferrari’s goal is to finalize their new contracts before the start of the 2024 season, which marks the final year of the current deals with the drivers.