At the end of the season, Lewis Hamilton will be switching from Mercedes to Ferrari; the announcement was made in February, the same day the story went viral.
Lewis Hamilton’s announcement that he would be joining Ferrari was not leaked from his team, according to Frederic Vasseur, who also claimed to have filled in the holes at Maranello.
On the evening of February 1, it was revealed that the seven-time Formula 1 champion will relocate prior to the 2025 campaign. And the first reliable reports of the impending bombshell surfaced earlier that day.
Even for a Ferrari team known for its leaks, that is pretty amazing. Team principal Vasseur is certain that the practice of information leaking out of Maranello against corporate wishes is no longer present.
We didn’t have any leaks, and I believe someone from the UK did it on purpose, he told Motorsport.com. We worked as a small group for several months, and I was really grateful that we were able to finish without any leaks. It was an excellent one.
We experienced some leaks right after I joined, even before I did, as I had read in the press that I would visit Ferrari before initiating talks with them. There have been rumors in the media for the past six months, but they were rumors rather than actual team leaks.”
Following the news that renowned F1 car designer Adrian Newey will shortly depart Red Bull, one such tidbit surfaced. The 65-year-old is anticipated to take a break, but there are rumors that he may eventually decide to travel to Italy with Hamilton. Vasseur also supported his claim that more Ferrari rumors these days are based on conjecture rather than information from the team by citing a recent instance in which Newey was spotted at an airport close to Ferrari’s Maranello base.
“There was the story about Newey that was seen in Bologna because Newey was heading to Mugello [for testing],” he stated. No leak there! I can’t complain, but I don’t want to pass judgment on the past. For example, I had more leaks at Renault. Renault, I mentioned something during the debrief, and the websites featured it later that afternoon.”
Vasseur expects Hamilton to be able to offer more than the typical driver when the two teams finally connect. He went on: “Lewis or another driver’s input goes beyond qualifying lap time and other metrics. It’s the job’s finality… As a team, we are still young. Age is not the only factor; shared experience and victories are also important. This indicates that we are relatively young or green.
“It will undoubtedly have an impact to have someone with such a vast background and experience involved. We have time to talk about this with Lewis, and in my opinion, it fits into the team-building process because you need to plan ahead for the next cycle and the long term. I am not talking about 24 or 25; rather, I am talking about a cycle in which we obviously need to take action.
“Compared to a year ago, we believe we have already made some progress in involving the drivers in the project much earlier and developing the car’s characteristics with them. We seem to be headed in the right direction. However, Lewis will undoubtedly add value.”
