Fred Vasseur has described the signing of Lewis Hamilton as a huge opportunity for Ferrari but the team principal admitted he had a very difficult conversation with his Mercedes counterpart, Toto Wolff, after poaching his driver.
Two weeks ago the seven-time world champion shocked Mercedes, with whom he has driven since 2013 and won six titles, by announcing he would be joining Ferrari in 2025. Wolff admitted he was caught by surprise given Hamilton had signed a new contract with Mercedes in August and the pair had been talking about their future at Mercedes as recently as Christmas.
At the launch of Ferrari’s new 2024 car the SF-24 Vasseur was speaking publicly for the first time since the deal was done, standing in front of Enzo Ferrari’s desk in the Ferrari founder’s office in Maranello.
Persuading Hamilton to join Ferrari meant the team have dropped current driver Carlos Sainz for 2025 but Vasseur confessed that telling Sainz he was being jettisoned was not the hardest conversation he had over the deal.
“It was not the easiest call of my life,” he said of telling Sainz. “But the one that was most difficult was the one with Toto.”
Vasseur has long enjoyed a close relationship with Hamilton. He was his team principal at ART Grand Prix in 2005 when the British driver won the F3 title at his first attempt and then the following year was also in charge at ART when Hamilton took the GP2 championship. The pair have maintained their friendship ever since and Vasseur indicated this had played its part in bringing Hamilton to Ferrari.