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Lewis Hamilton recently revealed his fascination for F1 legend and former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher.
Hamilton will be moving to Ferrari in the 2025 F1 season in what has been labeled one of the biggest moves in the history of the sport. Lewis Hamilton also wrote on social media that driving for the Maranello team has been a "childhood dream" for him.
Talking in Bahrain ahead of the 2024 season, Hamilton revealed that witnessing Michael Schumacher dominate with Ferrari has a huge impact on any racing driver. Furthermore, he stated that he would "play as Michael" in video games when he was a kid.
F1 quoted him saying:
"For every driver growing up, watching the history, watching Michael Schumacher in his prime. I think all of us, you see a driver in the red cockpit, and you wonder what it would be like to be surrounded by the red.
"You go to the Italian Grand Prix, and you see the sea of red of Ferrari fans, and you can only stand in awe. Even as a kid, I used to play as Michael, so it definitely is a dream and I’m really excited about it."
Fans on social media, however, were not amused by his comments. Many highlighted his statement from 2021 about choosing Kimi Raikkonen in video games.
One user wrote:
"pr merchant at it again."
Others mentioned the Kimi Raikkonen reference in their comments.
Fans also hinted that Hamilton has been telling similar "fairy tails" for a long time.
Hamilton has called three-time F1 world champion Ayrton Senna his inspiration multiple times throughout his career, which, the fans also called out upon his recent comments about Schumacher.
Lewis Hamilton on starting a 'new chapter' at Ferrari in 2025
Heading into his final year with Mercedes in 2024, Lewis Hamilton has revealed that moving to Ferrari was one of the "hardest decisions" for him to make.
Lewis Hamilton has been racing with the Brackley-based team since 2013. He has always been dedicated to the team and has been outspoken about winning with them in the future.
This remained his goal, as he revealed, while signing a two-year extension with Mercedes last year, but the circumstances changed earlier this month.
"In the summer we signed, and obviously I, at that time, saw my future with Mercedes. But an opportunity came up in the new year and I decided to take it," F1 quoted him as saying.
“I feel like… it was obviously the hardest decision that I think I’ve ever had to make. Obviously I’ve been with Mercedes for, I think it’s like 26 years they’ve supported me, and we’ve had an absolutely incredible journey together. We’ve created history within the sport, and it’s something I take a lot of pride in and I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved.
“But I think ultimately I’m writing my story and I felt like it was time to start a new chapter.”
Lewis Hamilton will be replacing Carlos Sainz in the team, to race alongside Charles Leclerc. Currently, he is focused on the development of the W15 with Mercedes.
