Lewis Hamilton has revealed he told Ferrari he didn’t want to make his debut with the team at Formula 1‘s post-season test even had Mercedes given him permission.
The annual post-season run-out that succeeds the final round in Abu Dhabi provides drivers changing teams with the chance to get a headstart on the next campaign.
But while various drivers who are on the move in 2025 will represent their new teams in the test at the Yas Marina Circuit next month, Hamilton won’t be among them.
Hamilton will complete the much-anticipated switch to Ferrari next season in a sensational multi-term deal that was announced prior to the current season beginning.
However, his maiden outing in a scarlet red car won’t take place until 2025 at the earliest as planned commitments have seen Mercedes opt against an earlier release.
“Fred [Vasseur, Ferrari Team Principal] didn’t ask,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said in Las Vegas last weekend.
“I think it’s a difference also if you’re maybe going to Williams, but we have contractual agreements with sponsors.
“We’re having a farewell for Lewis. We’re having lots of activities that are planned.
“And him and I, we spoke about it shortly, and he said, ‘I guess that’s not going to work’. And I said, ‘yeah, I don’t think it’s going to work’.
“And that was the whole thing. So I don’t think Fred is particularly sad.”
Vasseur expressed that he was not downbeat about the situation, despite Ferrari agreeing to let incumbent Carlos Sainz, who Hamilton will replace, test with Williams.
“There is a contract,” he acknowledged. “We have to respect this.
“And it’s not because we are doing something for Carlos that everybody has to do the same. And as Toto said, I didn’t ask Toto.”
Hamilton wished to avoid Ferrari F1 debut in Abu Dhabi
However, Hamilton has divulged that Vasseur, who he worked with in GP2 back in 2006, was eager to see him conduct his initial appearance with Ferrari in Abu Dhabi.
The seven-time F1 champion, though, has admitted he had informed Vasseur in advance that he wished to avoid his special occasion being held in the public domain.
“Look, I know Fred wanted it to happen,” Hamilton told media including Motorsport Week. “For me, I was in two minds.
“Driving the red car for the first time in Abu Dhabi does not excite me. In a perfect world, you’d get to drive it and not be seen and do the first rollout next year.
“When I did raise it, obviously with Toto, they had all these plans that I’ve got to go and see some of the sponsors and say their farewells.
“So I don’t think it was ever going to actually be allowed, even if I’d asked to have done it. But because I’m contracted to the team until December 31st – and that’s totally fine.
“But it doesn’t bother me, again, because I wasn’t going to do the test. It’s not what I wanted to do. I told Fred that’s not what I wanted to do.”
When it was put to him that he’s never been a big advocate towards the post-season test, Hamilton responded: “No, I never did.
“Am I missing out on something? For sure. It definitely delays the process and makes the start of the year harder, but we’ll do our best to recover.”
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