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Scuderia Ferrari F1 is ‘Happy’ that Lewis Hamilton is a Free Agent in 2021

Published 11/29/2019, 2:51 PM EST

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Everybody in Formula One knows that the 2021 season will be a massive game changer. A Aside from the revamped regulations, a number of contracts will be expiring at the end of 2020. Among them are, Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, and more importantly, Lewis Hamilton.

Taking that into consideration, Scuderia Ferrari will be monitoring everyone like hawks. Team boss Mattia Binotto even confessed that Lewis Hamilton’s availability for 2021 pleases them.

Although Lewis Hamilton is contracted to Mercedes, it only lasts until the end of 2020. It was also thought-provoking to learn that Hamilton was not looking forward to negotiations. However, amid Ferrari interest, the Mercedes driver is largely expected to stay with the German team.

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In addition to Lewis, team-mate Valtteri Bottas, Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen are also out of contract for 2021 and beyond.

When speaking about the potential interest in signing Lewis Hamilton, Binotto said: “Lewis is certainly an outstanding driver, a fantastic driver.”

“Knowing that he’s available in 2021 can make us only happy, but honestly it’s too early for any decision.

“We are happy with the drivers we’ve got at the moment. Certainly at one stage next season we will start discussing and understanding what to do.”

The 6-time world champion has been with Mercedes since 2013, and won five titles during the team’s dominance of the V6 turbo-hybrid era.

On the other end of the scale, Scuderia Ferrari F1 has failed to mount a serious challenge. Even in 2019, their current pair of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc have got in each others’ way instead of Mercedes’.

Admittedly, Lewis Hamilton admitted that he would like to see team boss Toto Wolff’s future determined before making his own decision.

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Speaking about Hamilton’s comments, Wolff said: “Lewis and I have grown close over the last seven years. We ended up in Mercedes at the same time in 2013 and I think we have built up a lot of trust.”

“At the same time, the two of us are part of a wider organisation where everybody is playing in their relative field of competence.

“For him to say that is nice. I’d also like to know where he goes or if he stays in the future.

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“We are having those discussions about the future and I think it is very important between the two of us, like between many others that have played an important role within that team.

“There are many things to be decided on and we will see over the winter.”

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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