While Ferrari will welcome Lewis Hamilton into the team come 2025 in one of the biggest driver moves Formula 1 has seen, team boss Fred Vasseur insists their focus has not bypassed F1 2024.
The prospect of a Hamilton to Ferrari dream move had bubbled away for years with no signature coming to make it official, until now that is.
Before the F1 2024 campaign had got underway, the huge news broke that Hamilton had activated an exit clause in his Mercedes contract in order to join Ferrari for 2025, as the seven-time World Champion now prepares for one final season as part of the Mercedes team with which he has won six of his seven titles.
Additional reporting by Sam Cooper
Going out on a high is very much the goal for Hamilton in his final Mercedes season, while for Ferrari, the focus is also solely set on success in F1 2024, not looking forward to what is to come with Hamilton at the wheel.
Ferrari were the only non-Red Bull Grand Prix winning-team of 2023, courtesy of Carlos Sainz in Singapore, the driver who Hamilton will replace, and Vasseur has assured that full attention for the team is on F1 2024 and boosting their victory tally.
Asked by media including PlanetF1.com at the launch of Ferrari’s F1 2024 challenger, the SF-24, whether this season is one of ‘transition’ for the team, Vasseur replied: “No, this is wrong.
“2024 won’t be a transition year. It’s a quite important season for us and I’m fully focused on this.
“I think the best way to prepare something is to do a good job. It means that we are focussed on ’24, we want to get the best, we want to win races, we want to continue on the path of 2023, and we won’t be at all thinking about 2025.
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