Ange Postecoglou cracks Lewis Hamilton joke after ‘flat’ Tottenham deadline day

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Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes for Ferrari stole the attention away from football’s transfer deadline day and took Tottenham Hotspur coach Ange Postecoglou’s notice.

The Spurs coach has joked that missing out on signing Hamilton was the only ‘disappointing’ business for his Premier League club on Thursday. Ferrari have agreed to terms with the 39-year-old to leave Mercedes after the 2024 season and race beside Charles Leclerc next year.

Hamilton has been at Mercedes since 2013 and has spent his entire career in Formula 1 with cars powered by the German automotive giants. But two tough seasons has tempted him to cut ties with the Silver Arrows. Even though he signed a new deal through 2025 last August.

Ferrari president John Elkann secured Lewis Hamilton’s arrival from Mercedes for 2025

Hamilton has a release clause in his contract at Mercedes that allows him to split after 2024. Ferrari president John Elkann pushed hard for the seven-time F1 champion to use the clause and partner Leclerc from next year. He will take up Carlos Sainz’s seat from the 2025 season.

Sainz was already out of contract in Maranello after 2024 but talks were ongoing over a new deal. Yet signing Hamilton was too good for Ferrari to refuse. He has won more races (103), taken more pole positions (104) and stood on more podiums (197) than any F1 driver ever.

Ange Postecoglou jokes of his ‘disappointment’ as Tottenham miss out on Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton has not won a race in two seasons after Mercedes took the wrong direction with a zero-pod concept for F1’s latest ground effect regulations from 2022. But he could now have a chance to outdo Michael Schumacher’s seven titles at Ferrari, where the German won five.

But with football’s transfer deadline day being as Postecoglou describes a ‘flat’ affair, he has cracked a joke that Tottenham missing out on the 39-year-old’s signature to Ferrari was their only upsetting outcome. The Australian joked that Spurs did not feel it was the ‘right move’.

“The only disappointing one was yesterday,” Postecoglou joked during his press conference on Friday. “I thought there was a really good opportunity for us. But the club just didn’t feel it was the right move for us. So, [I was] disappointed with that but he ended up at Ferrari.”