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F1 fans were left reeling after former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto revealed that he would not have signed Lewis Hamilton at the Italian team during his reign. The seven-time world champion shocked the F1 world when he announced that he would be leaving Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season to join the Maranello outfit in 2025 under the leadership of Frederic Vasseur.
Binotto, who was the team principal of the Scuderia from 2019 to 2022, led the team to seven race wins during his stint but was let go from the outfit owing to multiple high-profile mistakes in management and strategy in four years under his helm.
Speaking with Corriere della Sport, Binotto, who is currently the head of the Audi F1 project, spoke about Hamilton's move to Ferrari and gave his take on whether he wanted to sign the Brit:
"No. But he did very well to go to the Ferrari, I agree with his decision. Ferrari had focused on other drivers. And if the talent is Leclerc, I think he is the one who should be accompanied to the objective in some way.”
F1 fans took to social media to give their reactions to the Italian's comments on Lewis Hamilton on X, with one fan pointing out:
"That’s why he’s not in charge anymore."
"Lewis wouldn’t have gone there with him there either."
"Not bringing a 7 time champ. If we go off his time at Ferrari not sure Lewis Hamilton would've wanted to join a team with him leading the strategy," said a fan.
"Mattia made very few good decisions," claimed another.
"Yeah he would have signed Logan Sargent instead," wrote another.
Lewis Hamilton chimes in on joining Ferrari in 2025
Talking about his shift, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton stated that he would be fulfilling a "childhood dream" given he watched Michael Schumacher dominate the sport with Ferrari. Speaking with F1.com, the 39-year-old said:
“Of course, I think for every driver growing up, watching the history, watching Michael Schumacher in his prime, I think probably all of us sit in our garage and see the screen pop up, and you see the driver in the red cockpit and you wonder what it would be like to be surrounded by the red,” Hamilton said.
“You go to the Italian Grand Prix and you see the sea of red Ferrari fans and you can only stand in awe of that. Without a doubt, even as a kid, I used to play [on games] as Michael in that car, so it definitely is a dream and I’m really, really excited about it.”
The British driver will race for the Italian team until the end of the 2026 season, given his multi-year deal with them.
