Verstappen ponders Hamilton in Ferrari red: ‘Will look cool’

Max Verstappen hopes his old rival Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari in 2025 will be a success and appears excited by the prospect of seeing the seven-time world champion wearing red.

Hamilton's explosive decision, which will come after the final year of his contract with Mercedes ends, has been the big story of F1's off-season.

– Unlapped: How to listen or watch the ESPN F1 broadcast
– What Hamilton's decision means for Ferrari, Mercedes and F1

Assuming he doesn't win in 2024 with Mercedes, Hamilton will look to win a record eighth career title with Ferrari, something Verstappen denied him to do at the end of a bitter and controversial battle for the 2021 championship.

Verstappen said the team change made sense for such an accomplished driver.

“I was probably a little surprised by that announcement at the time,” Verstappen told ESPN. “But if someone wants to drive for Ferrari, and especially when you have already achieved so much in your career, why not?

“Ferrari is an incredible brand, it has so much history.”

Verstappen said it was impossible to have a verdict on Hamilton's decision without knowledge of his contract negotiations with both teams.

At another press session he added: “We don't know the discussions they had at Mercedes, at Ferrari, what was promised, what they think is coming. So you can't not give an honest assessment from us why you are making this decision.

“But if he's happy with that decision, then he should go for it, I think it will look cool. And of course, I hope for their sake it's a success, but you don't know that for the moment.”

Verstappen has replaced Hamilton as F1's dominant force and heads into 2024 having won three consecutive titles.

Discussions about Hamilton's decision inevitably led to questions about whether Verstappen would ever consider the same thing.

Verstappen, under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028, played down the suggestion.

“I don’t want to seem disrespectful or anything,” he said. “I mean, I have a lot of respect for the Ferrari brand, but I'm very happy where I am at the moment.

“So I feel comfortable in the environment that I'm in, so for me it's not something that I'm looking for, to change or anything.

“But in my life, I know from what I've experienced so far, I never say never. But for me now, it's not even in my head. But again, It's just Formula 1. I want to do more things than Formula 1 as well.”

Red Bull boss Christian Horner said Hamilton must have seen something incredibly attractive in Ferrari to give up a lifetime affiliation with Mercedes.

“Lewis obviously saw something there that he believed in,” Horner told ESPN. “It’s a wonderful brand, it’s a great team.

“Moving away from the relationship he had with Mercedes-Benz before his time in Formula 1 is a big step for him, but he's obviously given it a lot of thought. He's obviously seen something he believes in at Ferrari that was attractive enough to take him out of his comfort zone.”

The new F1 season begins with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 2.