
Amid the buzz surrounding Andretti’s failed Formula 1 bid, an even more shocking announcement has emerged. Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari in the 2025 F1 season. Initially, many doubted this news, which seemed to appear out of nowhere in the past couple of days. Some even suspected it was just a diversion from the Andretti rejection. However, once the information was confirmed to be true, it was revealed that Hamilton and Ferrari had been conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations involving Ferrari President John Elkann. Before Ferrari’s official announcement on Thursday, February 1, 2024, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff had gathered all team members at their Brackley headquarters in England the day before. There, Toto confirmed that Lewis Hamilton would indeed be moving to Ferrari.
Hamilton’s departure from Mercedes to Ferrari is far from just another routine F1 driver transfer. His move to Maranello—Ferrari’s headquarters—represents the biggest driver transfer since at least Sebastian Vettel joined the same team in 2015. The surprise factor in Hamilton’s move is particularly striking. Who would have thought that Lewis Hamilton, known for his loyalty to Mercedes and having just renewed his contract there five months ago, would suddenly decide to join their rival team? It later emerged that Hamilton’s new Mercedes contract was only valid through 2024, with a one-year extension option, which Hamilton ultimately chose not to exercise. But why did Hamilton move so quickly? What convinced him to switch to Ferrari even before Mercedes’ W15 car for the 2024 season was revealed to the public? Could there be issues in Hamilton’s relationship with Mercedes?
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have shared a deep connection for years. Like a mutual symbiosis, their relationship has been beneficial for both parties. After all, who could doubt the extraordinary talent of this 39-year-old driver on the track? Similarly, who could question Mercedes’ capabilities as an F1 team, with their seemingly unlimited resources? The two have been together since Hamilton made his Formula 1 debut with McLaren in 2007. After 16 years together, especially considering their success in the hybrid era which brought Hamilton six additional world championships, Hamilton and Mercedes became the most successful partnership in F1 history. However, their relationship has been tested over the past two years, specifically since the return of ground effect cars in 2022. During this period, Mercedes has struggled to remain competitive and fallen far behind Red Bull.
Hamilton has also endured a two-year winless drought. This is where Hamilton’s faith in Mercedes faced another test. Although Hamilton repeatedly stated in the media that he believed Mercedes had the resources to bounce back, his confidence eventually wavered. Even with James Allison’s return as technical director in April 2023, Hamilton remained unconvinced that Mercedes could help him secure another world championship. Since the ground effect era began, Ferrari has actually shown more competitive potential than Mercedes. In the 2023 season alone, Ferrari became the only team to break Red Bull’s winning streak with their victory at the Singapore Grand Prix. In fact, if it weren’t for Carlos Sainz Jr’s misfortune at the end of the season, Mercedes might not have finished as constructors’ championship runners-up. This loss of trust and confidence in Mercedes is believed to be one of the key reasons behind Hamilton’s departure.

However, Hamilton’s move to Ferrari might be driven by more than just the seven-time world champion’s loss of faith in Mercedes’ resources or their ability to produce a competitive race car. As widely known, rumors of internal conflicts within the Mercedes team have recently surfaced. Additionally, since 2020, Hamilton’s position as Mercedes’ primary driver has been challenged by Mercedes’ CEO, Ola Kallenius. Kallenius has been pushing for a generational change and considered Hamilton’s new contract of $55 million per season too expensive. Kallenius is known to favor George Russell and has been urging Toto Wolff to find Hamilton’s replacement. Beyond Kallenius’s disapproval, the emergence of talented young driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli from the Mercedes Junior Team has also threatened Hamilton’s position as the team’s leading driver.
Antonelli’s presence likely influenced Toto Wolff’s decision to offer Hamilton only a one-year contract with a one-year extension option, rather than a long-term deal. Toto must have realized he risked losing Hamilton in 2025 by offering such a short contract. Hamilton likely felt that the duration of his new contract didn’t reflect his contributions to Mercedes. He must have recognized that the short-term contract signaled Mercedes had no long-term plans for him. It’s no surprise that Hamilton then negotiated with Ferrari, which ultimately seemed to serve as a wake-up call to Mercedes. Whatever happened behind the scenes and whatever Mercedes did to lose Hamilton’s trust appears to be irreparable. This is evident in Hamilton’s uncompromising manner of leaving Mercedes.
Explore More:
Beyond the cooling relationship between Hamilton and Mercedes, what exactly did Ferrari offer this 39-year-old driver to convince him to move to Maranello? Ferrari certainly didn’t take a casual approach in pursuing Hamilton. As mentioned earlier, John Elkann personally handled the negotiations with Hamilton. Elkann has long wanted to bring Hamilton to Ferrari, and rumors of the Mercedes driver’s potential move circulated last year as well. However, Elkann’s first attempt failed when Hamilton chose to stay with Mercedes. This year, after discovering a clause in Hamilton’s contract, Elkann moved quickly to restart negotiations. Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur, who was Hamilton’s former boss at ART during his GP2 days, is believed to have played a significant role in the negotiations.

Moreover, which F1 driver wouldn’t want to join a team as legendary as Ferrari? We all remember Sebastian Vettel’s famous quote from years ago: “Everyone is a Ferrari fan. Even if they say they’re not, they’re probably lying in their hearts when they see Ferrari.” Hamilton himself had previously expressed a hidden desire to race for Ferrari someday. For years, Hamilton had been linked with Ferrari, though it never materialized. Until yesterday, when that long-awaited day finally arrived, with Ferrari securing another world champion driver since Vettel’s departure in 2020. Ferrari reportedly offered Hamilton an astronomical salary of
Amid the buzz surrounding Andretti’s failed Formula 1 bid, an even more shocking announcement has emerged. Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari in the 2025 F1 season. Initially, many doubted this news, which seemed to appear out of nowhere in the past couple of days. Some even suspected it was just a diversion from the Andretti rejection. However, once the information was confirmed to be true, it was revealed that Hamilton and Ferrari had been conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations involving Ferrari President John Elkann. Before Ferrari’s official announcement on Thursday, February 1, 2024, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff had gathered all team members at their Brackley headquarters in England the day before. There, Toto confirmed that Lewis Hamilton would indeed be moving to Ferrari.
Hamilton’s departure from Mercedes to Ferrari is far from just another routine F1 driver transfer. His move to Maranello—Ferrari’s headquarters—represents the biggest driver transfer since at least Sebastian Vettel joined the same team in 2015. The surprise factor in Hamilton’s move is particularly striking. Who would have thought that Lewis Hamilton, known for his loyalty to Mercedes and having just renewed his contract there five months ago, would suddenly decide to join their rival team? It later emerged that Hamilton’s new Mercedes contract was only valid through 2024, with a one-year extension option, which Hamilton ultimately chose not to exercise. But why did Hamilton move so quickly? What convinced him to switch to Ferrari even before Mercedes’ W15 car for the 2024 season was revealed to the public? Could there be issues in Hamilton’s relationship with Mercedes?
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have shared a deep connection for years. Like a mutual symbiosis, their relationship has been beneficial for both parties. After all, who could doubt the extraordinary talent of this 39-year-old driver on the track? Similarly, who could question Mercedes’ capabilities as an F1 team, with their seemingly unlimited resources? The two have been together since Hamilton made his Formula 1 debut with McLaren in 2007. After 16 years together, especially considering their success in the hybrid era which brought Hamilton six additional world championships, Hamilton and Mercedes became the most successful partnership in F1 history. However, their relationship has been tested over the past two years, specifically since the return of ground effect cars in 2022. During this period, Mercedes has struggled to remain competitive and fallen far behind Red Bull.
Hamilton has also endured a two-year winless drought. This is where Hamilton’s faith in Mercedes faced another test. Although Hamilton repeatedly stated in the media that he believed Mercedes had the resources to bounce back, his confidence eventually wavered. Even with James Allison’s return as technical director in April 2023, Hamilton remained unconvinced that Mercedes could help him secure another world championship. Since the ground effect era began, Ferrari has actually shown more competitive potential than Mercedes. In the 2023 season alone, Ferrari became the only team to break Red Bull’s winning streak with their victory at the Singapore Grand Prix. In fact, if it weren’t for Carlos Sainz Jr’s misfortune at the end of the season, Mercedes might not have finished as constructors’ championship runners-up. This loss of trust and confidence in Mercedes is believed to be one of the key reasons behind Hamilton’s departure.

However, Hamilton’s move to Ferrari might be driven by more than just the seven-time world champion’s loss of faith in Mercedes’ resources or their ability to produce a competitive race car. As widely known, rumors of internal conflicts within the Mercedes team have recently surfaced. Additionally, since 2020, Hamilton’s position as Mercedes’ primary driver has been challenged by Mercedes’ CEO, Ola Kallenius. Kallenius has been pushing for a generational change and considered Hamilton’s new contract of $55 million per season too expensive. Kallenius is known to favor George Russell and has been urging Toto Wolff to find Hamilton’s replacement. Beyond Kallenius’s disapproval, the emergence of talented young driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli from the Mercedes Junior Team has also threatened Hamilton’s position as the team’s leading driver.
Antonelli’s presence likely influenced Toto Wolff’s decision to offer Hamilton only a one-year contract with a one-year extension option, rather than a long-term deal. Toto must have realized he risked losing Hamilton in 2025 by offering such a short contract. Hamilton likely felt that the duration of his new contract didn’t reflect his contributions to Mercedes. He must have recognized that the short-term contract signaled Mercedes had no long-term plans for him. It’s no surprise that Hamilton then negotiated with Ferrari, which ultimately seemed to serve as a wake-up call to Mercedes. Whatever happened behind the scenes and whatever Mercedes did to lose Hamilton’s trust appears to be irreparable. This is evident in Hamilton’s uncompromising manner of leaving Mercedes.
Explore More:
Beyond the cooling relationship between Hamilton and Mercedes, what exactly did Ferrari offer this 39-year-old driver to convince him to move to Maranello? Ferrari certainly didn’t take a casual approach in pursuing Hamilton. As mentioned earlier, John Elkann personally handled the negotiations with Hamilton. Elkann has long wanted to bring Hamilton to Ferrari, and rumors of the Mercedes driver’s potential move circulated last year as well. However, Elkann’s first attempt failed when Hamilton chose to stay with Mercedes. This year, after discovering a clause in Hamilton’s contract, Elkann moved quickly to restart negotiations. Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur, who was Hamilton’s former boss at ART during his GP2 days, is believed to have played a significant role in the negotiations.

Moreover, which F1 driver wouldn’t want to join a team as legendary as Ferrari? We all remember Sebastian Vettel’s famous quote from years ago: “Everyone is a Ferrari fan. Even if they say they’re not, they’re probably lying in their hearts when they see Ferrari.” Hamilton himself had previously expressed a hidden desire to race for Ferrari someday. For years, Hamilton had been linked with Ferrari, though it never materialized. Until yesterday, when that long-awaited day finally arrived, with Ferrari securing another world champion driver since Vettel’s departure in 2020. Ferrari reportedly offered Hamilton an astronomical salary of $100 million per season, far exceeding the current record held by reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen, who earns $70 million per season.
Beyond the fantastic salary offer, Ferrari likely also convinced Hamilton of their ability to build a competitive race car. Looking back to when Hamilton moved from McLaren to Mercedes in 2013, many doubted his potential success with his new team. These doubts were reasonable, as Mercedes was fairly average at the time. Hamilton’s decision to join Mercedes ultimately proved fruitful with their dominance during the hybrid engine era from 2014 to 2021. A similar scenario could unfold at Ferrari when Hamilton joins them. The circumstances of Hamilton’s move now are relatively similar to back then, with Hamilton joining in 2025, followed by new F1 regulations in 2026. Has Ferrari perhaps shown Hamilton convincing data about their 2026 engine that sealed his decision to move to Maranello? That could very well be the case.
Ending his career with Ferrari would certainly be a beautiful final chapter in Hamilton’s racing journey. For a driver often mentioned in GOAT debates like Hamilton, something would feel incomplete without experiencing at least one season racing for Ferrari. Hamilton surely wants to follow in the footsteps of other F1 legends like Michael Schumacher who raced for Ferrari, something even Ayrton Senna never achieved. If Hamilton manages to bring a championship back to Maranello after more than 15 years, his memories with the tifosi would be even more special. Even if Hamilton doesn’t win a world championship with Ferrari, his legacy as one of F1’s legends would remain largely intact. After all, other exceptional former world champions like Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel never won titles during their time with Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari’s current lead driver, extended his contract just days before Hamilton’s 2025 signing was announced. The two will form an incredibly strong driver lineup for Ferrari next season. However, there’s undeniable potential for conflict as both drivers harbor their own championship ambitions. Given that John Elkann personally handled Hamilton’s negotiations, Leclerc’s position as Ferrari’s number one driver will likely shift in the 2025 season. Leclerc will need to share ambitions and contain his ego for Hamilton. As mentioned, Hamilton’s arrival is something Ferrari has been waiting for since Vettel’s departure in 2020. The championship mentality that comes with a seven-time world champion like Hamilton will bring fresh energy to Ferrari, ultimately pushing the team to develop a championship-winning car.
Hamilton is also expected to help Vasseur in his mission to attract top F1 engineers to Ferrari. His move is predicted to trigger an exodus of leading Formula 1 engineers to Maranello. Among those reportedly following Hamilton to Ferrari are Mercedes Performance Director Loic Serra and Head of Trackside Performance Riccardo Musconi. Hamilton’s presence is seen as the missing puzzle piece in Frederic Vasseur’s Ferrari rebuilding project. Hamilton also continues the tradition of world champion caliber drivers piloting Ferrari F1 cars, following in the footsteps of Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, and Sebastian Vettel. This is something they couldn’t get from Leclerc, despite his undeniable skill. This championship mentality is exactly what a team like Ferrari needs to compete for world titles again.
00 million per season, far exceeding the current record held by reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen, who earns $70 million per season.Beyond the fantastic salary offer, Ferrari likely also convinced Hamilton of their ability to build a competitive race car. Looking back to when Hamilton moved from McLaren to Mercedes in 2013, many doubted his potential success with his new team. These doubts were reasonable, as Mercedes was fairly average at the time. Hamilton’s decision to join Mercedes ultimately proved fruitful with their dominance during the hybrid engine era from 2014 to 2021. A similar scenario could unfold at Ferrari when Hamilton joins them. The circumstances of Hamilton’s move now are relatively similar to back then, with Hamilton joining in 2025, followed by new F1 regulations in 2026. Has Ferrari perhaps shown Hamilton convincing data about their 2026 engine that sealed his decision to move to Maranello? That could very well be the case.
Ending his career with Ferrari would certainly be a beautiful final chapter in Hamilton’s racing journey. For a driver often mentioned in GOAT debates like Hamilton, something would feel incomplete without experiencing at least one season racing for Ferrari. Hamilton surely wants to follow in the footsteps of other F1 legends like Michael Schumacher who raced for Ferrari, something even Ayrton Senna never achieved. If Hamilton manages to bring a championship back to Maranello after more than 15 years, his memories with the tifosi would be even more special. Even if Hamilton doesn’t win a world championship with Ferrari, his legacy as one of F1’s legends would remain largely intact. After all, other exceptional former world champions like Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel never won titles during their time with Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari’s current lead driver, extended his contract just days before Hamilton’s 2025 signing was announced. The two will form an incredibly strong driver lineup for Ferrari next season. However, there’s undeniable potential for conflict as both drivers harbor their own championship ambitions. Given that John Elkann personally handled Hamilton’s negotiations, Leclerc’s position as Ferrari’s number one driver will likely shift in the 2025 season. Leclerc will need to share ambitions and contain his ego for Hamilton. As mentioned, Hamilton’s arrival is something Ferrari has been waiting for since Vettel’s departure in 2020. The championship mentality that comes with a seven-time world champion like Hamilton will bring fresh energy to Ferrari, ultimately pushing the team to develop a championship-winning car.
Hamilton is also expected to help Vasseur in his mission to attract top F1 engineers to Ferrari. His move is predicted to trigger an exodus of leading Formula 1 engineers to Maranello. Among those reportedly following Hamilton to Ferrari are Mercedes Performance Director Loic Serra and Head of Trackside Performance Riccardo Musconi. Hamilton’s presence is seen as the missing puzzle piece in Frederic Vasseur’s Ferrari rebuilding project. Hamilton also continues the tradition of world champion caliber drivers piloting Ferrari F1 cars, following in the footsteps of Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, and Sebastian Vettel. This is something they couldn’t get from Leclerc, despite his undeniable skill. This championship mentality is exactly what a team like Ferrari needs to compete for world titles again.