Lewis Hamilton Had “Nearly Signed With Ferrari” Pre-2013 before Niki Lauda Convinced Him to Join Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton will soon fulfill every F1 driver’s dream of putting on red overalls and racing for Ferrari. The Brit made the shock announcement with the second blockbuster switch in his career. However, this move which will materialize in 2025 would’ve happened a long time ago when he was still a McLaren driver. This revelation was made by an ex-Ferrari and Mercedes strategist, Ruth Buscombe.

Currently on gardening leave, Buscombe sat down with the hosts of the Pitstop podcast in their latest YouTube episode. During their conversation, the seasoned F1 employee revealed how the Brit almost signed with Ferrari before he was convinced to join Mercedes in 2013.

“I don’t think many people know this. He nearly signed with them (Ferrari), a long long time ago,” she confessed and revealed a story. A story of when Hamilton was still a McLaren driver, he was spotted in Ferrari’s backyard in a local and famous pub in a town called Modena. According to the then-Ferrari employee, Hamilton sat in the pub for four hours.

This was back when he hadn’t signed for Mercedes and there were rumors of him joining the Italian outfit. His sighting in Modena fanned the fire but eventually, the late Ferrari legend Niki Lauda convinced him to join the German team.

Read More: In Desperate Days at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton Reveals the Secret Gestures Fighter Niki Lauda Shared With Him: “If I Did a Bad Job…”

It is no secret that Lauda convinced the Brit to join Mercedes despite the Brackley outfit struggling before he made the switch. It was a leap of faith, sure! But it was also Niki Lauda’s answer to an honest question from Hamilton that convinced him.

The reply from Niki Lauda that convinced Lewis Hamilton to join Mercedes

Back when Hamilton’s McLaren contract was expiring and he was weighing his options, he received a call from Niki Lauda. The same person who he thought did not like him because of some comments in the past, perhaps because of some similarities to James Hunt in his early career. During this call, Lauda asked Hamilton to join Mercedes, whom Lauda was a stakeholder in.

However, at the time, Mercedes was only the 5th best team on the grid in 2012. So when Hamilton asked the Austrian world champion why he should leave McLaren and join his team. Reply to this question from Lauda, is what he believes convinced him.

“I was for 10 seconds speechless. What should I tell him now? He is right. And I said, but what would happen if you would win a World Championship in a Mercedes? Because you can then prove to the whole world that you’ve been the first World Champion in a Mercedes,” said the late great.

He further added, “Then I thought, this was half of my victory to make him think in that direction and then I got him really under competitive edge to say join us and I will do everything I can do to give you a competitive car, this I can assure you with all my efforts.”

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The prospect of winning in a Mercedes and commitment from Lauda was the final nail in the coffin for Mercedes and the rest, as we all know, is history. Now, The Brit will join his former team to try to achieve the ultimate goal of winning an eighth championship. We are excited to see how this decision plays out.