NOVEMBER 9, 2017

Brawn, not Lauda, convinced Hamilton to make F1 switch

Lewis Hamilton has corrected the industry-standard story about how he decided to switch from McLaren to Mercedes some years ago.

Lewis Hamilton has corrected the industry-standard story about how he decided to switch from McLaren to Mercedes some years ago.

According to the paddock grapevine and also the F1 legend himself, it was Niki Lauda who joined Hamilton late at night in a hotel room to convince him to make the switch for 2013.

"I love Niki and I have a great relationship with him," Hamilton, the new four time world champion, told Brazil's Globo.

"But the truth is that it was not Niki who convinced me to go to Mercedes. It was Ross Brawn.

"He came to my mother's house, we were having tea in the kitchen and I was like 'Why does the guy I saw on TV leading guys like Schumacher want me on his team?' It didn't make sense to me," Hamilton explained.

Brawn, now the F1 sporting boss, was once the team boss at Ferrari and Mercedes.

"That was the key day that convinced me to go to Mercedes," Hamilton added.

The 32-year-old has already wrapped up the 2017 title, but he has vowed to race on and even wants to extend his current Mercedes contract beyond next year.

Hamilton said: "The question is how much longer I want to commit to this sport.

"I know it won't be much longer because I also want to do other things like having a family and business. There are other challenges for me," he insisted.

(GMM)