Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has responded to reports linking his team with a surprise swoop for Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton, insisting that the seven-time world champion would be a prize possession for any team.
While Vasseur confirmed that Ferrari has not officially launched any bid to lure Hamilton from Mercedes, he remained effusive for his praise of the 38-year-old.
“I think every single team on the grid would like to have Hamilton at one stage, it would be bull**** to not say something like this,” Vasseur said.
“If I discuss with Hamilton, the last 20 years I discussed almost every single weekend with Hamilton, I don’t want to have to stop to discuss with him because you are chasing me.”
It had earlier been reported that a deal in the region of £40 million was being tabled to get Hamilton to join Ferrari despite the team’s status as a direct rival of Mercedes.
There are some like Red Bull technical advisor Helmut Marko who can see through the fluff and believe it is Hamilton’s tactic to get better terms from Mercedes.
By creating a circumstance where it seems like a number of teams are interested in him, including a team like Ferrari, who Lewis himself has been a childhood fan of, he can try to get a better salary negotiation from Mercedes.
At least that is what Marko feels, while former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone also doesn’t see the deal going through due to two other distinct reasons.
As things stand, Hamilton will be out of contract at the end of the current season, but he remains hungry to continue racing in the sport, with the ultimate goal of eight world championships still creating enough motivation.
Speaking ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, Vasseur attempted to clear all the Ferrari-related confusion surrounding Hamilton’s future.
“As a joke I could say that two weeks ago you were sending Sainz to Audi, one week ago you sent Leclerc to Mercedes – now I am alone,” Vasseur said.
“You know perfectly that at this stage of the season each week you will have a different story and we are not sending an offer to Lewis Hamilton, we didn’t do it. We didn’t have discussions.”