Piero Ferrari, the son of the company’s founder Enzo Ferrari, expressed his admiration for Lewis Hamilton as the seven-time world champion prepares to race for the Scuderia from the upcoming season.
Lewis Hamilton announced his shock departure from Mercedes on the 1st of February. The announcement caught the Formula One community by surprise, as the seven-time world champion was set to race for the Brackley-based outfit until the end of 2025.
However, an exit clause in his contract allowed Hamilton to leave the team in 2025 if he wished, and the Briton elected to terminate his contract in a bid to seek for a new challenge at Ferrari next year.
Hamilton is statistically the most successful driver in the history of Formula One, tied with the great German seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher on the number of world championship titles.
Speaking to Quotidiano Nazionale, Piero Ferrari, the son of the company’s founder Enzo Ferrari reckoned that he has no doubt about Hamilton’s capabilities and commitment.
“There is no doubt about the champion, as a person he has enormous charisma. Together with Leclerc, he forms a nice duo. We have known Lewis for a long time.
“He is one of our customers, he loves Ferraris. We have met in the past when he came by the factory to pick out the details of the cars he was buying.”
Ferrari admitted that he was far from surprised that the seven-time world champion elected to end his career in red, revealing that the British driver had long flirted with the idea of joining the Scuderia.
“The idea of one day racing with a Ferrari and for Ferrari was something he had back then, when he was just a customer. He was talking to me about it in a polite way.
“I was not surprised that he came and I was happy with the deal. I hope he can win straightaway, although that will obviously depend on the car we can give him and Charles.”
