F1 preview: A lap of the Monaco Grand Prix
Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has claimed the Scuderia “would like to have Lewis Hamilton” but has denied an approach has been made for the seven-time champion. The Frenchman admitted “every team” in F1 would love to get Hamilton behind the wheel.
But, he stressed any discussion with Hamilton were not related to a bid for the star despite rumours ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. Vasseur said: “We didn’t have discussions. I think every single team on the grid would like to have Hamilton at one stage, it would be bull**** to not say something like this.
“If I discuss with Hamilton, the last 20 years I discussed almost every single weekend with Hamilton, I don’t want to have to stop to discuss with him because you are chasing me.”
Hamilton has been linked with a move to the Scuderia for weeks with speculation rising in recent days. Earlier this week, The Mail reported that Ferrari were set to submit a £40million a year bid for the champion.
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The newspaper claimed the Italian marque’s preferred option would be to partner Hamilton alongside Carlos Sainz. But, they could even swap out Charles Leclerc in order to get a deal with Hamilton over the line.
Although Vasseur cooled the rumours as he confirmed there had been no bids in the run-up to the weekend. He added: “As a joke I could say that two weeks ago you were sending Sainz to Audi, one week ago you sent Leclerc to Mercedes – now I am alone.
“You know perfectly that at this stage of the season each week you will have a different story and we are not sending an offer to Lewis Hamilton, we didn’t do it.”
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Hamilton has repeatedly denied that he would be joining any other squad as he continues to pledge his allegiance to Mercedes. The Silver Arrows will welcome new updates this weekend in a bid to close the gap to Red Bull.
Toto Wolff has confirmed these will be aerodynamic tweaks with a new floor and front suspension installed. Images from the paddock show Mercedes have also ditched their ‘zero-pod’ design used since the start of last year.
Sky Sports F1 pundit Ted Kravitz suggested Ferrari’s reported offer was too low for a driver of Hamilton’s talent and tipped the Mercedes driver to stay at the German marque.
He explained: “I don’t think he’s likely to go, maybe if he wins the elusive eighth at Mercedes once they get the car right eventually then potentially he might go and see if he can win another one with Ferrari but he may be into his 40s by then.”
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