Lewis Hamilton details ‘surreal’ Ross Brawn and Niki Lauda chats before ditching McLaren | F1 | Sports

“He’s telling me the different things they’re doing to progress as a team, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘this is very surreal’ because I was watching the Grands Prix when, if you remember, [at] Magny-Cours when Michael did four pit-stops, and just watching the championships when Michael was winning. I’m thinking, ‘now the guy is in my kitchen’, or my mom’s kitchen, wanting me to join the team, which was really awesome.

“It was Ross [who convinced me]. And Niki Lauda. Niki called me: ‘Hey, you must come to the team. This is the place!’

“I went, ‘But Niki, you’re not winning races? How’s that gonna happen?’ He said, ‘Oh, go and meet Ross! He will tell you’. So it was a joint effort from those two.”