17 April 2023 , 08:38
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Lewis Hamilton's insistence that he would never consider leaving Mercedes for another Formula 1 rival is little more than hot air.
That's the opinion of Gerhard Berger, who is not buying that claim from the seven-time world champion. He believes that there are always circumstances in which a driver could be tempted to join another team – no matter the strength of their connection to their current employer.
In Hamilton's case, that bond is pretty strong. He has spent 10 years with the works team and has been affiliated with the Mercedes brand throughout his entire F1 career, and made a point last year of referring to the carmaker as his racing family.
He said: "For years we'll be going around, up and down with stories of retirement and stopping. For me, I feel healthier than I've ever felt, as I focus a lot on that, I'm feeling fit. I love what I'm doing – and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
"My goal was always to be with Mercedes, y'know? I signed with them in 1997. I think I'll always be with Mercedes 'til the day I die. And I feel like I can race for quite a bit longer. So, I'll be potentially steering towards that."
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Regardless, Mercedes' struggles on track have meant that speculation that Hamilton might leave has not gone away. Ferrari has regularly been pointed out as his most likely destination if he does decide on a fresh start, though there may be other options depending on when the 38-year-old chooses to make any such move.
Gerhard Berger could see Lewis Hamilton swapping Mercedes for Ferrari (Getty Images)Berger, a 10-time F1 race winner who enjoyed two separate spells racing for the Scuderia, could see a Ferrari switch happening for the Brit. "Every racing driver wants to drive for Ferrari at least once," he told the Austrian outlet Kronen Zeitung.
"Almost all the good [F1 racers] have been there. Ayrton Senna just didn't go to the Scuderia because he knew, 'I can never win there'. It may be that Lewis thinks so too.
"But if he doesn’t get a competitive car at Mercedes, if he doesn't see a place at Red Bull Racing, then he might think, 'I don't want to stop just yet, I want to try Ferrari again. Maybe I can fix it'. Although Lewis constantly emphasises that he would never leave his Mercedes family, that means nothing in Formula 1. No-one reveals the cards there!"