Lewis Hamilton has revealed how he briefly considered joining Ferrari, but claims the moment was “short lived” as Mercedes offers a “family for life”.
The seven-time world champion was a target of Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali during his time as team boss from 2008 to 2014.
But Hamilton has no regrets about remaining loyal to Mercedes, a fruitful relationship that has spawned six drivers ‘titles and seven constructors’ titles.
“I have no reason to think about it,” said Hamilton. “It was part of … every end of the term you have to do your due diligence and see what your options are and I’m really proud of what I have and where I am at Mercedes.
“I think I’ve said it before, it was very short-lived, the idea of going to Ferrari was short-lived in the sense that you are with a family at Mercedes for your entire life,” added Hamilton.
“If you look at all the historic drivers who drove for Mercedes, they were there until the 90s, and you don’t see that with any other team, with any other brand.
“So I’m very proud of that. We also achieved more than anyone else, and that’s because of the great teamwork, the loyalty, and I don’t take that for granted. “
Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg believes that Hamilton is “gifted, probably the best” [Formula 1 driver] of all times ”, but Michael Schumacher was much more diligent in his preparation.
“Talented, [Hamilton] must probably be the best of all time, ”said Rosberg. “And he really builds on that, that instinct is phenomenal with him … Lewis deserves it” [the record] also and if he can do that, then fine. I see it more and more as: ‘He was really damn fast and I can be all the more proud that I beat him [in 2016] back then with the same car. ”
When asked about the different approaches, Rosberg emphasized Schumacher’s attention to detail in the run-up to the races. “One big difference is hard work,” he said. “Lewis hates test drives. He doesn’t like test drives. And Michael, he would drive tests every day, even though he is a seven-time world champion. But because he also knows that you can always learn a little there.
“He motivates the whole team and gets them behind him, knows all the names, invites them to bike rides to his home and so on, even though he’s seven times world champion and has 800 million in his bank account or something. ”
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