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The seven-time champion will leave Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025
The rumors have been confirmed.
Lewis Hamilton is making a stunning move to Ferrari at the end of the 2024 season.
The Formula 1 world awoke on Thursday to multiple reports that Hamilton was making the shocking move from Mercedes to Ferrari for the 2025 season. Now, those reports have been confirmed:
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team and Lewis Hamilton will part ways at the end of the 2024 season. Lewis has activated a release option in the contract announced last year.
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 1, 2024
According to Ferrari, Hamilton will join the team for 2025 on a “multi-year deal.”
According to Sky Sports F1 Mercedes F1 employees were informed of the move at a meeting at the team’s Brackley factory on Thursday.
Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013, replacing the retiring Michael Schumacher. He had already won a Drivers’ Championship, in his second season with McLaren back in 2008, and the move was seen as something of a gamble at the time. But the gamble paid off, as Hamilton won six titles during his time with Mercedes.
However, the team has struggled in recent years. After winning the Constructors’ Championship in 2021 — a season that saw Max Verstappen deny Hamilton a fifth-straight title and an eighth overall — Mercedes limped to a third-place finish in 2022. While the team finished second in the Constructors’ standings last year, both 2022 and 2023 saw Mercedes and Hamilton struggle to get the car where it needed to be for the team to challenge at the front consistently.
Those struggles, and the fact that Hamilton’s deal with Mercedes was set to expire at the end of 2023, opened the door to rumors of a potential move away from Mercedes. Ferrari was at the heart of those rumors all season long, and even after Hamilton signed a two-year extension with the team, those rumors did not subside.
In a statement to the media, including SB Nation, Hamilton reflected on his time with Mercedes, as well as his decision to leave for Ferrari.
“I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I’m so proud of what we have achieved together. Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old. It’s a place where I have grown up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make,” said Hamilton. “But the time is right for me to take this step and I’m excited to be taking on a new challenge. I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family, especially Toto for his friendship and leadership and I want to finish on a high together. I am 100% committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my last year with the Silver Arrows, one to remember.”
And those struggles outlined above might have led directly to Hamilton’s decision to bolt for Ferrari. As the team tried to get the physics right with both thet W13 in 2022, and the W14 in 2023, it held both Hamilton and the team back. He has not won a grand prix since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in December of 2021, a very lengthy stint without taking the top step on the podium.
There may also be a sense in Hamilton’s mind that he needs to give this a shot. Perhaps he feels that his run at Mercedes has taken its course, and with the team seemingly plateaued these past few years, now is the time to make such a bold move before the window closes, and the opportunity is behind him.
Finally … it is Ferrari. Beyond the memes about strategy and bad pit stops and the like, it is one of the biggest brands in motorsport. A legendary name in F1. That is hard to turn down.
Now the rumors have come to fruition, and if he is to win an eighth title, it will come in red alongside Charles Leclerc.
As for who will replace Hamilton at Mercedes for 2025?
There will certainly be options.
