Lewis Hamilton signed his last contract with Mercedes in 2019 and he has now admitted he never came close to joining Ferrari before signing the deal. The British driver, who won his seventh world championship, has yet to extend his contract with the German giants. Hamilton is expected to sign a contract to stay in the sport and look to continue his dominance though. Ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend, Hamilton has opened up on how close he came to making a switch to Ferrari, the former team of Michael Schumacher. "I was never close at all to ever leaving my team," Hamilton said about his talks in 2019. "I think it's only right as drivers, as people, when you're looking at your next phase and committing to the next stage of your life you have to analyse what your options are and make sure you do your due diligence and have the pros and cons. I don't know whether our values are aligned and timing… it just wasn't meant to be." Hamilton was full of praise for his Mercedes team and says he sees them as a family to him. He added: "I'm so grateful with what I have with Mercedes. This is the only team in the history of the sport where you're a long-life family member, the older greats have been a part of the Mercedes brand for their whole life, you're a part of the road of evolution, they include you in the family forever. That's loyalty, which I have tattooed, and it's such an important value to me."
Source: Express