I used to play as Michael Schumacher growing up, joining Ferrari is a boyhood dream, says Lewis Hamilton

LEWIS HAMILTON says moving to Ferrari is a boyhood dream after playing as Michael Schumacher on his computer as a kid.

Hamilton, 39, activated a break-clause in his Mercedes deal and will quit at the end of this year to join the Italian team.

EPA

The 2024 season will be Lewis Hamilton’s last with Mercedes[/caption]

Alamy

Hamilton wanted the move to Ferrari to emulate Michael Schumacher[/caption]

The move stunned F1 as he had only agreed a contract extension with the Silver Arrows last summer.

Now, as he prepares for his final season with Mercedes, he says he has always been driven by the lure of one day driving for F1’s most famous team, who have not won the title since 2007.

He said: “I think for every driver, growing up, watching the history, watching Michael Schumacher in his prime, probably all of us sit in our garage and see the screen pop up, and you see the driver in the red cockpit.

“You wonder what it might be like to be surrounded by the red.

“You go to the Italian Grand Prix, and you see the sea of red Ferrari fans, and you can only stand in awe of that.

“It’s a team that’s not had huge success really since, mostly obviously from Michael’s days, but obviously since 2007, and I saw it as a huge challenge.

“Without a doubt, even as a kid, I used to play on Grand Prix 2 as Michael in that car. So it definitely is a dream, and I’m really, really excited about it.”

Hamilton will link up with his old GP2 boss Fred Vasseur at Ferrari and admits he had a big hand in convincing him to jump ship.

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He added: “I’ve got a great relationship with Fred. Obviously I raced with him. We had amazing success in F3, and also in GP2.

“That’s really where the foundation of our relationship started. We always remained in touch.

“I thought that he was going to be an amazing team manager at some stage and progress to F1, but at the time, he wasn’t interested in that.

“It was really cool to see him step into the Alfa [Romeo] team. Then when he got the job at Ferrari, I was just so happy for him.

“I think just the stars aligned, I think it really wouldn’t have happened without him.

“So I’m really grateful and really excited about the work that he’s doing there.”

The 2024 F1 season begins on March 2.

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