Lewis Hamilton reportedly declined a contract offer from Ferrari President John Elkann

The Ferrari F1 team is desperate to get Lewis Hamilton's services for the upcoming years of the sport.

Lewis Hamilton reportedly declined a contract offer from Ferrari President John Elkann

John Elkann (Credits: RaiNews) and Lewis Hamilton (Credits: GPFans)

The 2023 F1 season is currently in its summer break, but despite this, the rumor mill has been in full swing. It has recently come out that the former 7-time F1 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, has politely declined a contract offer made by the Ferrari President, John Elkann.

Lewis Hamilton is out of contract at the end of the ongoing campaign and is yet to pin down a new deal with the Toto Wolff-led Mercedes outfit. While discussions are still ongoing between the two parties regarding a new deal it has been reported by famous Italian journalist Leo Turrini that John Elkann made contact with the Brit.

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Turini via his official blog wrote, “Hamilton had been contacted personally by Elkann. I understand he politely replied ‘no thanks’. And you can understand it (unfortunately)”. Hamilton has previously several times admitted that the Brackley-based team is very close to him, and he can’t even think of leaving them.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz‘s F1 contracts are coming to a close at the end of the 2024 F1 season, and it is believed that while Lewis Hamilton is still available, Ferrari wants to do everything in its power to get him on board from 2025 onwards. However, it seems extremely difficult considering his loyalty to Mercedes.

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Lewis Hamilton is believed to have turned down an offer from Fred Vasseur as well

Fred Vasseur (Credits: Sports Illustrated)
Fred Vasseur (Credits: Sports Illustrated)

While John Elkann is the name that has come forward around an approach to Lewis Hamilton regarding a Ferrari F1 contract, Fred Vasseur is another who is also believed to have made contact with Hamilton. American journalist, Michael Schmidt told a German publication, “Vasseur is rumored to have made Hamilton an offer, I won’t deny it.”

“I think Vasseur knows well that Lewis is not going anywhere, but he also has to make sure that Ferrari show some dynamism.” Looking at everything, it seems Ferrari is desperate to bring a big name into its stable, and there are not many that are bigger than F1 royalty, Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari is currently fourth in the 2023 Constructors Championship but has got high hopes going into the future. The SF-23 hasn’t performed as per expectations and amidst all the chaos, it is looking very likely that at least one of the current Ferrari drivers is going to get axed at the end of their respective F1 contracts.

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