This season, Lewis Hamilton made the switch to Ferrari – the chance of a final title with this iconic team was enticing. His much-discussed transfer immediately made history, although the former champion is not yet having the best of luck. Ferrari alumnus Sebastian Vettel, who once found himself in a similar situation, hopes that Hamilton will manage to win a championship.
Sebastian Vettel bid farewell to Formula 1 at the end of 2022 after two unsuccessful years with Aston Martin. Since then, he has been linked with a possible return to Mercedes, although the team ultimately chose young Andrea Kimi Antonelli. During his time in Formula 1, Vettel had an intense rivalry with Lewis Hamilton, but nowadays the two maintain a close friendship.
On the British program Sportsworld, Vettel was asked about Hamilton’s move to Ferrari. The 37-year-old German, after multiple championships with Red Bull, also chose a new challenge with the Scuderia. From 2015 to 2021, he raced for Ferrari for seven years, but a title eluded him. “For me, it never worked because Lewis (Hamilton, ed.) won everything, so let’s see how he’s doing now,” Vettel joked.
‘I’m rooting for him’
“Of course, I raced against him for a very long time,” he continued. “We get along well, and he is currently by far the most outspoken driver on the grid. His skills on the track are beyond question; the numbers and statistics speak for themselves. It’s great to see that he’s still on the grid, exerting influence and using it in a positive way. So, of course, I’m rooting for him to win another title.”
Vettel won fourteen Grand Prix in Ferrari colors. Only in his third season, in 2017, was he able to truly challenge Mercedes for the championship. Unfortunately, the unreliable performance of the Ferrari SF70H let him down. In the following season, Vettel himself made a number of costly mistakes, before he could no longer compete with his new teammate, Charles Leclerc, in 2019.
