Formula 1

Piero Ferrari hinted to Quartararo about Hamilton F1 signing

Yamaha MotoGP rider Fabio Quartararo has revealed that Piero Ferrari hinted to the Frenchman of its signing of Lewis Hamilton to its Formula 1 team during a factory visit.

Oriol Puigdemont

Oriol Puigdemont

Edited: Feb 19, 2024, 11:30 AM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Fabio Quartararo in the Mercedes W13

Ferrari dropped a bombshell on the motorsport world earlier this month when it announced that it had signed seven-time F1 champion Hamilton for 2025.

It will bring to an end a fruitful 11-year partnership with the Mercedes F1 team, whom Hamilton joined from McLaren at the end of 2012 and won six of his seven world titles between 2014 and 2020.

Quartararo is a known F1 fan and lover of cars, and prior to MotoGP pre-season testing kicking off he took a trip to Ferrari’s Maranello base at the end of January.

The 2021 MotoGP champion was shown around by Piero Ferrari, son of the marque’s founder Enzo.

In an interview with Motorsport.com, Quartararo revealed that Ferrari insinuated to him that Hamilton would be joining its F1 team – but he didn’t realise it until after the announcement.

“It was strange, because I was visiting Maranello a couple of days before the announcement and Piero Ferrari suggested it to me,” Quartararo said.

“But at that moment I didn’t know how to interpret it, I didn’t get it. I didn’t fall for it until it became official.”

Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14, battles with Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23

Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14, battles with Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Commenting on the news, Quartararo added: “I always remember Lewis at Mercedes. I’m not even aware of his time at McLaren.

“It’s going to be strange to see him dressed in red.”

Hamilton has repeatedly expressed his love of motorcycles and MotoGP before, making several visits to the MotoGP paddock over the years.

In 2019, through mutual sponsorship between Mercedes and Yamaha, Hamilton and MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi engaged in a ride swap.

At Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit, Hamilton rode Rossi’s M1 Yamaha MotoGP bike for the first time while the latter took control of his title-winning Mercedes from that year.

Hamilton has not since sampled MotoGP machinery, while Rossi retired from the series at the end of 2021 to pursue a career in GT racing.

Quartararo had been in talks about driving a Mercedes F1 car in 2022, but nothing came of it.

Former Yamaha works rider Jorge Lorenzo did test a 2014-spec W05 F1 car at Silverstone.

Read Also:

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Read also :

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Previous article How Mercedes joined the F1 distraction brigade with its W15 double suspension

Next article F1 hopes Horner investigation is completed at “earliest opportunity”

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

More from

Oriol Puigdemont



Jorge Martin confirms he will travel to Qatar to try to race

MotoGP

MotoGP

Malaysian GP

Jorge Martin confirms he will travel to Qatar to try to race



How MotoGP teams and riders are organising themselves for their arrival in Qatar

MotoGP

MotoGP

Malaysian GP

How MotoGP teams and riders are organising themselves for their arrival in Qatar



How Trackhouse is preparing for the post-Davide Brivio era

MotoGP

Italian GP

How Trackhouse is preparing for the post-Davide Brivio era

Latest news



Laurent Mekies: Liam Lawson’s fate has nothing to do with me

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

33 min

Laurent Mekies: Liam Lawson’s fate has nothing to do with me



Joe Gibbs Racing moves to resolve one portion of Spire countersuit

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup 5 h

Joe Gibbs Racing moves to resolve one portion of Spire countersuit



Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

14 h

Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors



Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

15 h

Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss

Feature

Discover prime content



How Formula 1 proved the naysayers wrong – for once

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Stuart Codling

How Formula 1 proved the naysayers wrong – for once



How Lando Norris prevailed in a swift errors tour of Interlagos

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Stuart Codling

How Lando Norris prevailed in a swift errors tour of Interlagos



"He really wanted it" – why Russell was furious over aborted Brazil ‘pole’ lap

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Stuart Codling

"He really wanted it" – why Russell was furious over aborted Brazil ‘pole’ lap



What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 Brazilian GP

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 Brazilian GP

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts

Subscribe