Lewis Hamilton apparently joked to꧟ the Ferrari vice-president in 2017 about eventually joining - seven years before he actually signed.

Hamilton will swap Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025 having activated a get-out clause in his current contract to p🧸en a multi-year agreement with the Italian team.

It is no secret that Hamilton has always been an admirer of Ferrari road ca🅰rs and a visit▨ to make a personal purchase resulted in an intriguing conversation with a key figure at the famous brand.

"Perhaps not everyone knows tha🌜t Lewis has always been sensitive to the fascination of the Prancing Horse,” vice-president Piero Ferrari told .

"Heღ's a customer of ours! Moℱre than once he visited the factory.”

But not the F1 team itself.

"No, no,” Piero Ferrari expla𒆙ined. “He came as a buyer of our cars.

“He's ൩not just a speed ace. He has a genuine love for supercaꩲrs.

“In hi༒s garag𝔉e, our cars could not be missing. One in particular...

"The model that's called LaFerrari.

“Hamilton came to Maranello to give instructions on how to set u꧃p the car.

“It was on that occasion that we gꦐreeted ea🐷ch other cordially.

“And he said something to me that struck me...

"We had Seb⛄astian Vettel 𓃲in the team and we were happy with Seb.

“We had just rene🐭wed the contract with the German, which was going well.

“Lewis made a joke: ‘If you waited twelve months, I🍷'd come..."

Vett𒊎el renewed his Ferrari contract in 2017, mid-way through an ultimately unsuccessful partnership.

Was Hamilton dreaming of Ferrari seven years ago?

"I don't think so,” Piero Ferrari admitted.

“He has lived and🐼 is still living a fantastic story with Mercedes.

“But certai༺nly, as I said at the beginning, he has never been indifferen♏t to our history.

“He is also very attached to the le🌱gend of motoring, as a child he had Ayrton Senna as an idol, in Mercedes in 2013 he took the place of Michael Schumacher.

"Well, personally I'm very happy. A figure like Lewis fitﷺs perfectly w🍌ith the Ferrari legend."