‘Hamilton interview rang alarm bells – timing of his Ferrari transfer shocked me’

Rachel Brookes sensed one thing off about Lewis Hamilton – however she didn’t fairly know what.

Hamilton didn’t appear his standard self as he performed his ultimate interviews of the season after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Perhaps that shouldn’t have come as an excessive amount of of a shock.

After all, the seven-time F1 world champion endured a depressing 2023 – his second in a row with Mercedes. Having dominated the sector for the very best a part of a decade, Hamilton and the Silver Arrows had simply completed one other marketing campaign with no reply to Red Bull.

READ MORE: Christian Horner releases new assertion after Toto Wolff and Zak Brown break silence on probe

READ MORE: Max Verstappen provides F1 followers hope as Red Bull star ‘cries on the radio’ in Bahrain follow

Max Verstappen and co. dominated from begin to the end. The Austrian crew gained 21 of the 22 races and Verstappen claimed a 3rd straight drivers’ crown by a mammoth 290 factors.

Hamilton completed 341 factors again in third, whereas Mercedes couldn’t even declare second spot within the constructors’ championship; the very best of the remaining tag going to Ferrari. A second yr within the wilderness appeared to take its toll on Hamilton, however few predicted he would depart the Silver Arrows. At least, not earlier than the tip of his contract in 2025.

Were you shocked to see Lewis Hamilton be a part of Ferrari? Let us know within the feedback part under

Yet, within the F1 low season, the bombshell information broke that the Brit would swap silver for purple and be a part of Ferrari from subsequent yr, ending his 12-year affiliation with Mercedes.

The information despatched shockwaves by means of the paddock. And whereas Sky Sports F1 presenter and interviewer Brookes was shocked on the timing of the information, it didn’t altogether come as a bolt from the blue.

“The last interview I did with him [Hamilton] in the pen in Abu Dhabi, I don’t think I’ve ever heard him so flat, to be honest,” Brooks advised Daily Star Sport in an unique interview.

“I did come away from it pondering ‘I’ve by no means heard him sound like that.’ Usually, he would take that chance to thank the crew and everybody who has labored so onerous throughout the season. But he was very emotional in it.

“It did ring alarm bells for me on the time and I did surprise. He often finds a optimistic and it didn’t occur on that day. I don’t know whether or not the fact of how far behind Mercedes had been started to hit residence at that time, however I additionally at all times felt he was going to drive for Ferrari in the future.

“There isn’t a driver on that grid who wouldn’t have thought about putting on the Ferrari red as a kid, and Lewis is no different. The timing surprised me, but I wasn’t surprised at all that he chose to move to Ferrari in the end.

“I didn’t expect the timing to be as it was because of his contract at Mercedes. But I always felt there was no way Lewis Hamilton was going to end his F1 career without driving for Ferrari.”

Brookes spoke to us forward of the beginning of the brand new season in Bahrain, which first joined the F1 calendar in 2004. While the Gulf monitor may need overtaking alternatives aplenty, due to its quick straight and sweeping corners, no a part of it makes it into Brookes’ dream F1 monitor.

“My dream track would have a lot of Suzuka in it,” Brookes beams on the launch of Sky Sports F1’s Greatest Track on Earth. “I’d also have Copse, Maggots, Becketts and Chapel in there somewhere, and I’d like turn one from Texas.

“I want a long straight and someone lunging up the inside to make a move. I wouldn’t want to drive it but I’d certainly like to watch it!”

The Greatest Track on Earth has been created to have a good time the 2024 Formula 1 season beginning 29 February, reside and unique on Sky Sports F1 and NOW. Find out extra at skysports.com .