After completing his 100th win in F1, Lewis Hamilton has revealed that it has been pretty amazing that he has never driven for Ferrari which is by all accounts the most iconic F1 team. He said that the Tifosi at Monza has always welcomed him and urged him to drive for their favourite team but it was never really possible and he has no clue that was the case.
"For years, whenever I come to Monza and see the fans, I hear them saying 'Come to Ferrari!. It warms my heart but it's pretty amazing that I've never driven for Ferrari after so many years. Because it's a dream for everyone, a goal to be achieved. It's never really been possible and I will never quite know exactly why," said the 7-time world champion.
Hamilton revealed that he has a couple of Ferrari road cars at home but he will probably never drive a Ferrari F1 car now that he is 36 years old and contracted with Mercedes till the 2023 season.
"I wish them the best and in the near future, I will just have to stop them from winning the world championship instead. I have a couple of Ferraris at home that I can drive, but not the F1 Ferrari," the defending world champion added.
Lewis Hamilton became the first driver in the history of F1 to win 100 races
Photo Credit: AFP
Hamilton added that he felt motivated to stay on in the sport because he now has a chance to show his skills up against a younger generation of drivers who are all very gifted and being backed by the big teams.
"Honestly, I'm not afraid of that. But that's part of the reason why I want to stay in F1 because it will really be an opportunity to show my skills. I believe my experience can be important to the team but also the development of George, who is already very fast but he will surely learn from me, because I have been in F1 for the longest time," he added talking about George Russell in particular who has been anointed Hamilton's successor at Mercedes.
"And I will also be able to learn from him. I have no qualms about learning from someone younger," said Hamilton. "I have no fear, I just want to win. Yes, I am much older and they are not afraid of anything. I like to watch them drive. I hope I am still able to deserve my place here, to be able to respond to them in the most effective way possible," he explained.
In 2021, Hamilton finds himself against old foes like Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, and Kimi Raikkonen but at the other end of the spectrum particularly Ferrari and Red Bull, and increasingly McLaren, his old team, have backed younger talent like Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and Lando Norris. Especially against Verstappen, who has been called many as one of the future stars of F1, Hamilton is embroiled in a titanic battle for the world championship, the first one of its kind in the turbo-hybrid era of the sport -- reminding many of the friction between Senna and Prost between 1988 and 1990.
