Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz has mocked Ferrari for reportedly offering Lewis Hamilton a contract worth £40 million, with Kravitz noting that the offer is probably less than he’s already on.
It was reported at the start of the week that Ferrari were preparing a £40 million offer for the seven-time World Champion, who is yet to sign a new deal with Mercedes.
Whilst Hamilton’s deal with the Silver Arrows is set to expire this season, it’s widely expected that he’ll eventually sign a multi-year extension, keeping him at the side until at least the end of 2025.
Nevertheless, Ferrari are reportedly interested in the 38-year-old’s services; however, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has admitted that the offer isn’t “true”.
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According to the reports, Ferrari are prepared to release Carlos Sainz in order to sign Hamilton, who’d then partner Charles Leclerc.
Kravitz doesn’t see Hamilton making the switch to Ferrari unless he manages to claim an elusive eighth title with Mercedes, with the reporter joking that the Maranello-based team are currently “offering everybody a job”.
“Firstly, I think the £40m offer is a bit of a low-ball offer for Lewis Hamilton,” Kravitz said on the Sky F1 podcast.
“It’s probably £5m less than what he’s on at the moment – and is something Mercedes are going to offer as part of not only the remainder of his driving career, but also a longer-term association with the Mercedes brand which is valuable to Lewis.
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“Number two, I think Ferrari are offering everybody a job for anything at the moment. Everyone is on Ferrari’s shopping list because Fred Vasseur says he is going to put together a crack team of amazing people around Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to make them realise this is incredible. They offered Adrian Newey a job with big money!
“They are after the best and the biggest in Formula 1 at the moment as they seek to rebuild so it shouldn’t be a surprise if they offer Lewis Hamilton everything. If it was £80m that John Elkann had said then that would get people’s attention.
“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.”