Lewis Hamilton says that driving for Ferrari in F1 isn't a dream of his and reckons that a decision over his future "may be fairly simple".
Lewis reckons McLaren is the 'best car out there'
Lewis Hamilton has said that driving for Ferrari isn't something he dreams of doing at some point in his Formula 1 career and that a decision over his future may turn out to be "fairly simple".
The 2008 World Champion's future continues to be at the centre of increasing speculation with the 27-year-old being linked with potential moves to all three of McLaren's main rivals - Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes - when his five-year contract with the Woking team expires at the end of the year.
McLaren have also made clear their intention to retain Hamilton's services into 2013 and beyond, although both team and driver have insisted in recent days
that they are in no rush to resolve the situation despite his contract having just six months to run.
Speaking in an interview with the
London Evening Standard on Friday, Hamilton admitted he has "thought of a move" but said he was very comfortable with his life at McLaren.
"I've thought of a move," he told the newspaper. "Who knows what's going to happen in the future? I'm in no rush. I've got a contract for the rest of the year and I have a job. At some stage my management will have to sit down and start planning.
"I'm very happy where I am so I think it may be fairly simple."
In a further apparent boost to McLaren's chances of tying him to a new deal, Hamilton also revealed that, unlike many F1 drivers past and present, joining Ferrari one day wasn't a particular ambition of his.
"I know Sebastian Vettel has said he wants to drive for Ferrari and Mercedes, teams with a big tradition. I don't feel like it's a dream to drive for Ferrari," he said.
"I know growing up I looked at the red car and thought that's beautiful: they make beautiful cars, it's a great brand and it's huge worldwide. But I already drive for another great brand that makes beautiful cars. The McLaren is the best car out there, I believe, and the team has a great history. The car is the most beautiful on the grid."
Hamilton, who experienced a trying 2011 season both on and off the track, added that changes to his schedule for this year had made a big difference for him so far this season.
"The team have made a lot more time for me which has enabled me to train so much more," he said. "I feel like I've got time to prepare myself.
"Before, a lot of the time I just felt exhausted as one day I'd be travelling to the UK, Germany and Spain. I'm doing a lot less of that this year and it's helping."
Meanwhile, Hamilton's Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh reiterated to
Sky Sports F1 in Canada on Friday that the immediate focus for both parties was winning races rather than talking contracts.
"We're concentrating on trying to win races," he said. "Lewis and the team are very comfortable - I think we're comfortable with him and he's very comfortable with us - so I think it's not something where we're rushing around trying to do that.
"I think also at the moment for Lewis - he wants to win here very badly. He's very good around this circuit.
"So I think we're just focusing on that. It's very easy to get distracted by contractual matters, I think it's right that we focus on trying to win races."
But put to him by Martin Brundle that it was unusual for McLaren to be so calm about such a contractual situation with a driver, Whitmarsh expressed confidence that Hamilton would agree with the team's assessment that the most logical decision for him would be to stay put when the time came to talk.
"Clearly I think the right place for Lewis is still in this team and I hope Lewis does as well. I don't think there's an obvious replacement from our perspective; I don't think there's an obvious great opportunity for Lewis outside either," he said.
"I think we are pretty comfortable with each other and therefore the need to rush around and try and sort this isn't as perhaps [as urgent]. Also we're probably not going to talk about it in the media when we start are we!"
