Lewis Hamilton has once again played down the possibility of joining Ferrari during his Formula 1 career.
The possibility of the five-time champion making the move to Maranello is a topic that is often brought up, given the perception that every top driver has aspirations of racing in red.
However, having grown up with Mercedes both as part of McLaren and now with the company itself, Hamilton admits it remains hard to see himself driving for another brand.
“I don’t know if it’s about being tempted [to join Ferrari],” he said on Thursday. “I think it’s about whether it’s part of the game plan.
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“I was just asked the question, ‘how would you feel if you ended your career without being at Ferrari?’
“Honestly, when you’re part of Mercedes, you’re part of a family for a lifetime, provided you stay with them obviously.
“If you look at Stirling Moss, even [Juan Manuel] Fangio is still honoured within the family… you’re part of their history, and they look after you for the rest of your life.
“That is important to me. Loyalty is a very, very key part.
“But if there’s a point in my life where there’s something I want to change, then that could potentially be an option. I don’t know if that is at the moment.”
Another hurdle that is often considered is whether Hamilton could ever get over with the Tifosi, who regularly boo him, particularly in Italy.
“I’m very lucky, I do have a good Italian following,” he claimed. “I think it’s grown a lot over the years. It takes a long time to shift perception.
“You still come here and stand on top of the podium and 90-plus per cent is all Ferrari fans and often they come here and I’ve made the weekend not so great for Ferrari fans by having Mercedes on the top step,” Lewis admitted.
“But I appreciate and respect them a huge amount and in fact when I now come a lot of Ferrari fans ask me to come to Ferrari so it’s quite cool.
“I get a lot of messages from Ferrari fans who say ‘I’m a Ferrari fan but I respect you’. So I think it’s growing slowly, bit by bit. It’ll never be the same as if I was driving for the Ferrari team but nonetheless, bit by bit, it’s shifting.”