“Everybody’s a Ferrari fan. Even if you go the Mercedes guys, they are Ferrari fans,” said Sebastian Vettel when he was driving for Ferrari, and competing against Lewis Hamilton. But Seb’s quotes that hold true in a lot of cases don’t do in his British friend’s case. Even after being approached multiple times by the Maranello outfit, Hamilton has flat-out denied signing with them. On this, An experienced journalist has said that Ferrari has only itself to blame.

The color Red in Formula 1 is the most iconic there is. It belongs to the most successful team in F1 history. A team that young drivers wish to ultimately race for. But after winning their last Constructor’s championship in 2008, Ferrari has been reduced to the 2nd best team even at their best. Plagued by strategic mismanagement, their drivers look more sad than happy in interviews.

On the other hand, Mercedes rose to the challenge in 2014 and have been better than Ferrari since. Because of these reasons, Hamilton rejected the request of the Executive Chairman of Ferrari, John Elkann. He shut down the talks with a 2-worded reply – ” No thanks”. Well-known Italian journalist Leo Turrini feels it’s a shame that the 7-time champion and a man of such great experience never raced for the team in red. “But leave the pilot alone,” wrote Turrini for Quotidiano. “In fact, I’m sorry that someone like him, over such a long career, has never dressed in red.” [translated via Google]

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Now, that the Briton has turned down Ferrari’s offer, the topic is over. Still, he did have some F1 pundits behind him urging him to join the Maranello-based team.

The greats of F1 urge Lewis Hamilton to sign for Ferrari

Be it Vettel or Charles Leclerc or any driver for that matter, being the face of Ferrari was a long-time dream of theirs. It’s not just a team but an emotion for many fans across the globe. So when Lewis Hamilton had the chance, F1 pundits pushed Ferrari’s cause because they wanted to see the team racing for glory again.

Former team boss of the Jordan F1 team, Eddie Jordan had said that Ferrari and Hamilton would be “a match made in heaven”. Echoing him was former British racer, Martin Brundle who wanted Hamilton to “go to Ferrari and do a Michael Schumacher”.

Maybe this transfer was never meant to be for Ferrari or Hamilton. The after-effects of this decision will only be felt in 2024 when the two teams collide. If Ferrari is better than Mercedes, this rejection will surely leave a sour taste in Hamilton’s mouth.

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