LEWIS HAMILTON says moving to Ferrari is a boyhood dream after playing as Michael Schumacher on his computer as a kid.
Hamilton, 39, activated a break-clause in his Mercedes deal and will quit at the end of this year to join the Italian team.
The move stunned F1 as he had only agreed a contract extension with the Silver Arrows last summer.
Now, as he prepares for his final season with Mercedes, he says he has always been driven by the lure of one day driving for F1's most famous team, who have not won the title since 2007.
He said: "I think for every driver, growing up, watching the history, watching Michael Schumacher in his prime, probably all of us sit in our garage and see the screen pop up, and you see the driver in the red cockpit.
Crowds crash barriers at London NYE - while cops run over & huge rave busted
"You wonder what it might be like to be surrounded by the red.
"You go to the Italian Grand Prix, and you see the sea of red Ferrari fans, and you can only stand in awe of that.
"It's a team that's not had huge success really since, mostly obviously from Michael's days, but obviously since 2007, and I saw it as a huge challenge.
"Without a doubt, even as a kid, I used to play on Grand Prix 2 as Michael in that car. So it definitely is a dream, and I'm really, really excited about it."
Hamilton will link up with his old GP2 boss Fred Vasseur at Ferrari and admits he had a big hand in convincing him to jump ship.
CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS
He added: "I've got a great relationship with Fred. Obviously I raced with him. We had amazing success in F3, and also in GP2.
"That's really where the foundation of our relationship started. We always remained in touch.
"I thought that he was going to be an amazing team manager at some stage and progress to F1, but at the time, he wasn't interested in that.
"It was really cool to see him step into the Alfa [Romeo] team. Then when he got the job at Ferrari, I was just so happy for him.
Supercar wedding procession worth £10m turns road into Fast & Furious
"I think just the stars aligned, I think it really wouldn't have happened without him.
"So I'm really grateful and really excited about the work that he's doing there."
The 2024 F1 season begins on March 2.
???? Complete F1 2024 race calendar - details on every Grand Prix and start time this year ????
