Lewis Hamilton claims to have long kept Ferrari in the back of his mind while dominating Formula 1 with Mercedes. A version that Nico Rosberg, his former teammate, absolutely does not believe.
Nico Rosberg is clearly not convinced by the recent confessions of Lewis Hamilton regarding his long-standing attraction to Ferrari. The 2016 world champion, who shared the Mercedes garage with the Briton for four seasons, believes that the story told by his former rival does not at all correspond to what he observed at the time.
Hamilton recently explained that the idea of joining Maranello one day was already present in his mind during his years of domination with Mercedes. He notably identified a specific moment, in 2017, when he learned that Sebastian Vettel was extending his contract with Ferrari.
A version of events that Rosberg simply calls “a Hollywood story”.
Hamilton claims to have long thought about Ferrari
Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was one of the biggest upheavals of his career. But according to the seven-time world champion, his interest in the Scuderia did not appear just a few months before his decision to leave Mercedes.
Ferrari, on the contrary, had occupied his thoughts much earlier.
“Ferrari has always been in the back of my mind,” Hamilton recently confided.
The Briton notably remembers Sebastian Vettel’s contract extension in 2017. At the time, the German was Hamilton’s main rival in the championship fight.
“I think it was at Spa when Seb signed a contract extension. I said to myself: ‘Oh, damn.'”
This reaction then made him realize that he really hoped to join Ferrari one day.
“I remember that moment because I realized: ‘Oh, actually, maybe I was hoping that would be my chance.'”
Even older discussions with Ferrari
Hamilton even claims that his interest in Maranello dated back to an earlier period.
The Briton explained that he had already had discussions with Stefano Domenicali, who was then leading the Scuderia. However, these exchanges never resulted in a transfer.
At that time, Fernando Alonso held a central place at Ferrari, making a possible arrival of Hamilton particularly difficult to realize.
The project therefore remained without follow-up and the Briton continued his adventure with Mercedes, where he would experience an exceptional period of domination.
But for Hamilton, the Ferrari idea never completely disappeared.
Rosberg: “It’s completely absurd”
Nico Rosberg, however, offers a radically different interpretation.
The German knows Hamilton particularly well since he was his teammate at Mercedes from 2013 to 2016. The two men experienced together the first years of the overwhelming dominance of the German team and directly competed for the world title.
Asked about his former teammate’s claims, Rosberg did not hold back.
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“It’s completely absurd. It’s a Hollywood story he’s telling,” he said according to F1-Insider.
For the 2016 world champion, Hamilton simply had no reason to want to leave Mercedes when the team was dominating Formula 1.
“When Mercedes was so dominant, he had absolutely no interest in going elsewhere.”
Rosberg would have liked to see Hamilton leave
The former Mercedes driver nevertheless humorously admits that a possible transfer of Hamilton to Ferrari would have considerably facilitated his own career.
Between 2014 and 2016, the two men had an extremely intense rivalry.
Hamilton won the 2014 and 2015 championships before Rosberg finally managed to get the upper hand in 2016. A few days after his triumph, the German surprised everyone by immediately announcing his retirement from Formula 1.
In hindsight, he admits that an early departure of Hamilton would have been great news for him.
“For me, it would have been a good thing at the time if he had left, Rosberg smiles. If I had had a clear path, it would have been easier.”
Two radically different versions
Rosberg’s statements obviously do not allow us to know precisely what Hamilton thought privately at that time. However, they show that his former teammate perceived absolutely no sign of a desire to leave Mercedes.
And the sporting context could hardly have been more favorable to the Briton.
Hamilton had with Mercedes the benchmark of the grid and was accumulating wins and championships. Leaving such a structure for Ferrari would have represented a considerable gamble.
Yet the Briton now claims that the attraction to Maranello was already very present, to the point of feeling a real disappointment when he understood that Vettel’s extension temporarily closed this possibility.
Rosberg, on the other hand, does not believe it for a second.
Years after their particularly tense rivalry at Mercedes, the two former teammates continue to present very different versions of their shared past. And regarding Hamilton’s old Ferrari dream, Rosberg is categorical: in his eyes, it is more of a Hollywood scenario than the reality he experienced alongside the Briton.
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