“I Look Good in Red”: Mercedes Legend Lewis Hamilton Once Had Toto Wolff Shaking in His Boots Over Ferrari Response

There have been several fantasy driver moves in F1, that fans love to speculate about. Whether a particular driver can drive for a certain team. Especially when world champions like Lewis Hamilton are available in the market. One such speculation about the Mercedes legend has been about him driving for Ferrari.

Back in 2019, the reigning champion Lewis Hamilton himself answered this question. In an interview with F1 presenter Steve Jones, Hamilton opened up on the prospect of driving for Ferrari. Jones asked him how would he look in the red overalls.

Lewis replied, “I know I look good in Red [clothing]. But um, It’s a very very very difficult scenario [Lewis going to Ferrari]. Because, Jeez I have been with Mercedes since 2013. Change is always cool. But Loyalty is everything.”

Hamilton’s answer might have caused Toto Wolff to shake his legs with anxiety. As the Briton had been the dominant force for Mercedes since the start of the Turbo-Hybrid era in 2014. So naturally, Wolff would want to lose the champion driver to rivals Ferrari.

Lewis further added, “I don’t think if I was for example to shift [to Ferrari], I don’t know what that would look like.” Lewis’s loyalties certainly lay with the Silver Arrows as he has been with the team for 3 years since then.

Read More: “They Would Bury Him”: All-Knowing F1 Boss Once Revealed Why Lewis Hamilton Would Never Work at Ferrari

It can be fascinating to think about such what-if scenarios. Our favorite drivers switching teams in different outfits might feel weird at times. Some moves can turn into masterstrokes or falter badly to just be a stint for the driver.

The What-If Career Moves for Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, and Many More…

Besides Ferrari, there have been several speculations about Lewis Hamilton joining another team back in the day. Apparently, it was the dominant team of the early 2010s – Red Bull. It might feel weird, given the current Red Bull-Mercedes rivalry, though Hamilton actually had talks with Christian Horner and Co. for a drive back in 2012.

These talks never materialized, as Horner has also admitted, and Hamilton ended up at Mercedes in 2013. Though, it would have been crazy to see Hamilton drive alongside Vettel on the same team.

Coming to Sebastian Vettel, even he would have ended up at the Silver Arrows in the Turbo-Hybrid era, only if more serious talks happened. So the Hamilton-Vettel dream line-up was not completely unrealistic.

Though one of the drivers who may have missed out on golden opportunities was Fernando Alonso. The 2-time champion in 2009 could have driven for the title-winning Brawn GP team, which became Mercedes in 2010.

As per the former Brawn GP CEO, they had offered Alonso a drive for 2009 when Ross Brawn bought the Honda team. But Alonso refused to stay at Renault as he eyed up a seat at Ferrari.

Still, if Fernando had accepted the offer, it would have been a radically different career trajectory for him. Several things could have changed in the upcoming years.

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How one driver move can cause a domino effect to alter several following incidents. Even if one of these what-if scenarios has turned into reality, a lot of the F1 history of recent years will change. Which one of these driver moves would you have liked to happen?