Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has spoken about the possibility of signing reigning World Champion Max Verstappen or seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, and how it may not be a good idea.
Both Hamilton and Verstappen have previously spoken about how racing for the famous Maranello-based team would be a “dream”, making many wonder why Ferrari haven’t tried to sign either driver.
Whilst Verstappen can’t be signed due to being under contract at Red Bull until the end of 2028, Ferrari have recently been linked to Hamilton.
It was reported by the Daily Mail that the Italians were planning a £40 million deal for the 38-year-old, to replace Carlos Sainz.
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However, the report was quickly quashed by Ferrari and Mercedes, with Hamilton seemingly set to stay at the latter.
Whilst a move to Ferrari for either driver seems very unlikely, it hasn’t stopped them from admitting how “great” it would be.
“They often ask me if I have a dream team: I know that Ferrari has a unique history in Formula 1. It’s a team that would be great to run for,” Verstappen recently said.
Whilst seeing Verstappen or Hamilton race for Ferrari would be incredibly exciting, Vasseur has explained why it might not actually be that good for the team itself.
The Frenchman questioned whether signing one of the “big names” would actually add anything to the Italians, should they not be at the start of a project.
Based on his comments, Vasseur would rather prefer to stick with the driver pairing which started a project with the team, to help them improve “step by step”.
“There are a lot of big names in Formula 1,” Vasseur said.
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“I often get asked about Max, Lewis, good engineers and so on. Of course you would like that, but in the end it doesn’t work that way.
“You have to understand the weaknesses and improve there step by step. I wonder if big names, who have not been involved in the Formula 1 project from the start, do they add something?
“If they join the team and then want to change everything, then you are talking about two to three years. That would take too long.”