Lewis Hamilton says it “would be a dream” if he was able to finish his time at Mercedes on a high with a championship challenge in 2024. Mercedes launched its 2024 car – the W15 – on Wednesday, with Hamilton and teammate George Russell both carrying …
Lewis Hamilton says it “would be a dream” if he was able to finish his time at Mercedes on a high with a championship challenge in 2024.
Mercedes launched its 2024 car — the W15 — on Wednesday, with Hamilton and teammate George Russell both carrying out filming duties during a shakedown in wet conditions (pictured above). The car will be Hamilton’s last as a Mercedes driver before his switch to Ferrari, and he says he is determined to ensure he’s in the best possible shape to try and add to his record number of wins with the team.
“I feel the most motivated and focused I’ve ever been,” Hamilton said. “Every year you come back and you are like ‘I’m fitter than ever’ and all these different things. But I generally feel I put more work and more time and more focus into preparation this year.
“I never thought at this point in my life that I’d have hunger like I do right now. And to finish on a high with the team would be a dream. We’ve gone through a whole heap together, so to finish on a high, it would be the greatest honor to be able to help them get back to the top.”
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The seven-time world champion admits it has been a tough few weeks since informing Mercedes he would be leaving at the end of the season, having originally joined the team more than a decade ago.
“Obviously been emotional — it’s very surreal to be here given I came here in 2013,” he said. “So 11 years with the team, starting my 12th, and it is such a privilege to work with a group of people where you see the work they’re doing over the winter — we go through this process over the last couple of years — you see a car come together at the beginning of the year, it’s the most exciting part of the season really.
“You see everyone’s launches; this is the first time I’ve seen the car come together as a whole, but to know everything that’s underneath the hood — which people won’t get to see but George and I will get to experience on the track — is exciting.”
Fernando Alonso says Lewis Hamilton was not openly talking about driving for Ferrari being his dream until his move to Maranello was announced, but believes the Briton could be fighting for a championship with the team. Hamilton announced his …
Fernando Alonso says Lewis Hamilton was not openly talking about driving for Ferrari being his dream until his move to Maranello was announced, but believes the Briton could be fighting for a championship with the team.
Hamilton announced his decision to leave Mercedes for Ferrari at the start of this month, exercising a break clause to make the switch at the end of 2024. Alonso drove for Ferrari from 2010 until 2014, and says Hamilton will need to win to get the best experience with the team but also allowed himself to joke about claims he had always wanted to race for the Scuderia.
“It was not his childhood dream 12 months ago or two months ago, I guess, because it was a different dream,” Alonso said. “Nothing really to comment. I hope he enjoys the experience. I think it’s a very special team, but it is more special when you win. That’s the thing – you need to win, and it’s a few years already that they have a very fast car and they were fighting for big things, and maybe Lewis can bring that extra to fight for the championship.
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“As I said, the car is there. At the end of last year, even with a very dominant Red Bull car, Ferrari was still able to match the lap time and be faster than them in most of the [qualifying sessions]. I think the car should be fast enough.”
The Spaniard admits he was surprised by Hamilton’s switch because of how integrated at Mercedes the seven-time world champion has been.
“I didn’t spend too much time (on the news),” he said. “I was training…that day, so I missed all the stress from everybody. I was just one day late on the news. I don’t know, probably it was a surprise, I will not lie, but not because [of] the change itself. It was just because, from the outside, it seemed like he was very linked with Mercedes and very loyal to them and things like that.
“It was a little bit unexpected. I don’t know the reasons behind [it]. I don’t know anything, the stories, so it’s more a question for him. But yeah, I didn’t pay too much attention, and probably next week it’s going to be more of a theme because, still, one year ahead, I didn’t spend much time thinking.
Alonso eventually tired of speaking about Hamilton’s move, when the topic of big name engineers from rival teams – including Aston Martin – potentially joining him was brought up.
“Ummm, I don’t know. I have no info and I don’t care what Lewis Hamilton is doing.”
Lewis Hamilton’s X44 team has confirmed it won’t be participating in Extreme E this year, bringing an end to its three-year stay in the all-electric off-road category. While not linked to the recent news of Hamilton’s impending move to Ferrari, the …
Lewis Hamilton’s X44 team has confirmed it won’t be participating in Extreme E this year, bringing an end to its three-year stay in the all-electric off-road category.
While not linked to the recent news of Hamilton’s impending move to Ferrari, the team’s participation in this year was thrown into doubt when Rodin made no mention of Extreme E in its plans for 2024 when it confirmed it was assuming full control of Carlin. X44 was run by Carlin in 2023, taking over from Prodrive which operated the entry in 2021 and ’22.
“After three years as part of the Extreme E family, we’re today announcing that X44 will be departing the series,” the team said in a statement. “We’ve had an incredible three seasons competing as X44, winning multiple races and even a world championship.
“Thank you to our drivers Cristina Gutierrez, Fraser McConnell and Sebastien Loeb, and all our talented teammates who worked hard to help us achieve everything we did. Even more than the results on track, we’re proud to have been part of a bigger conversation about how to make motorsport more sustainable, of our success in giving people from all kinds of backgrounds an opportunity to thrive in this team, and of the legacy our team owner Lewis will leave behind with the Racing for All program.”
X44 leaves Extreme E as its second-most successful team behind Rosberg X Racing, with four event wins in three seasons, a qualifying sweep across 2021, and a championship title in 2022. Gutierrez, who will race for NEOM McLaren this year, drove for the team for the entirety of its run in Extreme E, being joined by Loeb for the first two seasons, and McConnell last year.
While the team won’t be competing this season, it has left the door open to returning once the series transitions to hydrogen fuel cell cars, a move that will take place next year.
“Although we won’t be competing ourselves in 2024, we’ll be cheering on the series from the sidelines and keeping an eye on the exciting developments at Extreme H,” said the team’s statement. “Thank you for all your support.”
Lewis Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari in 2025 sent shockwaves through Formula 1 last week, and the ripples are still being felt far and wide. Not only is there massive anticipation as to what a Hamilton and Ferrari partnership is going to look …
Lewis Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari in 2025 sent shockwaves through Formula 1 last week, and the ripples are still being felt far and wide.
Not only is there massive anticipation as to what a Hamilton and Ferrari partnership is going to look like next year, but there’s the knock-on impact on the team he’s leaving, as well as the driver that he is replacing.
For Mercedes, it’s a strangely familiar situation. When Nico Rosberg stunned the team by opting to retire with immediate effect after becoming world champion in 2016, it suddenly had a highly-coveted seat that nobody had expected to be available.
The same is true now, although with two clear differences. One, the seat isn’t quite as valuable as it was when Mercedes was dominating so much, with Red Bull now the clear best car. And two, there’s a lot more time to work out who Mercedes wants to select, and a huge number of drivers out of contract and therefore available to join.
Back in 2016, the driver market had already played out and there were very few current race drivers definitely free to be signed that Mercedes would have wanted. It had to come to an agreement with Williams to secure Valtteri Bottas, while Williams in turn needed to secure the agreement of Felipe Massa to come out of retirement.
This time around, only Max Verstappen and the Ferrari (yes, by that I include Hamilton in 2025) and McLaren drivers are under contract. George Russell obviously is too but in a Mercedes seat, with the remaining 14 drivers awaiting their next deal. That means there are so many potential candidates to be Hamilton’s replacement.
Within those are varying types of driver, and Toto Wolff admits he’s looking forward to working out which direction to head in next alongside Russell.
“Of course with all the Lewis discussion something that has not been talked enough is George,” Wolff said. “George has the potential to be the next lead driver in the team. He’s of the generation of Lando [Norris] and [Charles] Leclerc and some of the others, and I couldn’t wish for a new team leader when Lewis leaves, no doubt about that.
“So we have such a solid foundation, such a quick and talented and intelligent guy in the car, that we just need to take the right choice for the second driver, the second seat. That’s not something I want to be rushed in.
“I guess that a few contracts have been signed a few weeks ago that we could have looked at, that could have been interesting, but the timing here bit us a bit. But in a way I always like change because change provides opportunity and in the same way we’ve embraced the Nico situation – and that was equally from one moment to the other unexpected – I’m really looking forward in taking the right decisions for the team, together with my colleagues, in who’s going to be in the seat next year, and maybe it’s a chance to do something bold.”
If Mercedes wants to pair Russell with someone of a similar generation who needs a chance to try and prove themselves in a front-running seat again, then Alex Albon likely tops that list. Albon’s time at Williams has been hugely impressive and he has evolved into a team leader who is able to consistently deliver under pressure for a team that only gets a select few chances for strong results.
Alex Albon could be an option for Mercedes, despite being under contract. Jake Grant/Motorsport Images
Albon is 27 but has only made 81 grand prix starts, compared to another clear option in the form of Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard has another 100 starts over Albon and has proven himself in race-winning machinery, offering a very solid all-round option for Mercedes and great experience in terms of race starts and teams driven for – Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren and Ferrari – all before he’s even turned 30.
That should make Sainz one of the frontrunners for the Mercedes seat, but also any other vacancy aside from perhaps Red Bull given his history with Max Verstappen at Toro Rosso. A seat swap with Hamilton would certainly make sense, but given the quality of some of the other candidates he’s part of a fierce battle for the drive.
His fellow Spaniard could well be a bold option that Wolff speaks of. Fernando Alonso has proven at Aston Martin that he’s lost none of his skills as he moves further into his forties, and has been a supporter of Russell’s for many years. Their strong relationship make an Alonso-Mercedes partnership far more conceivable, especially as it would be the closest thing in terms of pairing one of the best drivers with one of the most successful teams as Hamilton and Ferrari.
There’s another attractive aspect to opting for Alonso, as a similarly short-term deal to the one Hamilton signed would buy a bit of time to analyze the complete opposite end of the spectrum in Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The Italian youngster is a name you might well have heard of by now, having been part of the Mercedes set-up since he was 11, and sensational in karts before also winning two Formula 4 title last year. Mercedes is so excited by his potential that he has skipped Formula 3 completely to race for Prema in Formula 2, and how he fares will be fascinating to watch.
A strong year only furthers the feeling that Antonelli will be in F1 sooner rather than later, while a title-contending one might just put him in the frame for a Mercedes drive himself. Mercedes opted to blood Russell at Williams for a number of seasons but it didn’t have an immediate vacancy like it does for 2025, and was fighting for titles.
Wolff insisted he “would rather not start any speculation about Kimi going into F1 at this stage” when asked about the potential of Antonelli being the bold choice he speaks of, but had been offered the opportunity to say it’s too soon and declined to do so.
It’s just another option of many that cover pretty much every base that Mercedes wants. Reserve driver Mick Schumacher, former junior Esteban Ocon – there are numerous that the team has links to and good knowledge of, too.
That doesn’t play into the hands of Sainz so much in that he faces stiff competition despite the level of performance he can offer, and he’s now facing a situation where he is more likely to have to wait on Mercedes than the other way around.
It’s a seat that could come his way, but if not then he needs to be ready to react to the ripples Wolff’s decision will create, and realistically hope it’s not Antonelli who gets the nod in order to open up a space elsewhere.
Both the Mercedes seat and Sainz are highly attractive propositions, and surely someone is going to snap the two-time race winner up – with Audi long rumored to be suitors ahead of its entry in 2026 – but after Hamilton’s bombshell it’s now over to the team he’s departing to call the shots.
Toto Wolff admits he was surprised by the timing of Lewis Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari, saying that the seven-time world champion’s mind changed since the holidays. Hamilton will move to Ferrari in 2025 after activating a break clause in the …
Toto Wolff admits he was surprised by the timing of Lewis Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari, saying that the seven-time world champion’s mind changed since the holidays.
Hamilton will move to Ferrari in 2025 after activating a break clause in the two-year contract he signed with Mercedes in the second part of last year. Team principal Wolff says he felt Hamilton was committed heading into the Christmas break but was then told on Wednesday morning over breakfast that the 39-year-old had opted to move on.
“When we re-signed the contract with Lewis we opted for shorter-term, so the events are not a surprise, but maybe the timing is,” Wolff said. “What happened is that we got together for coffee in my place in Oxford, with him returning to the factory [this week], and he said to me that he has decided to race for Ferrari in 2025. That was basically it and we had a good hour of conversation and this is where we are.
“I cannot tell you exactly; all I know is that we were very aligned when we went in to the Christmas period and I think we have said that in public and in the team. You need to ask Lewis why he changed his mind.
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“How he framed it to me is perfectly understandable — he needed a new challenge and he was looking for a different environment and this was maybe the last possibility to do something else.
“We are big boys — we knew that signing a short-term contract could be of benefit to both sides. We couldn’t commit for a longer period and he has taken the option to exit. So, in a way, we totally respect that you can change your mind in different circumstances, and switching to Ferrari maybe for the last peak in his career, maybe rolling the dice a bit, I can follow that decision.”
Expanding on the discussion, Wolff says he didn’t try to change Hamilton’s mind once he was informed of the decision to leave, and that he was always aware of the allure of Ferrari.
“Yes, because every race driver dreams about being in a red overall and in the red car,” he conceded. “We’ve discussed it many times before that this would be exciting to do one day. But over the years we came to the conclusion that staying at Mercedes and finishing the legacy here is something that one can be proud of.
“But I never ignore the possibility of change — whether it’s Ferrari or another team — so this is what it is. The fact didn’t surprise me at all, maybe the timing; but I can understand where he was coming from and that was to protect the team’s interest going forward.”
Wolff is confident Mercedes continues to offer at least as much on the competition side as Ferrari does for Hamilton, but feels that ultimately the lure of driving a red car was too strong. Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Wolff also insists Hamilton’s decision to leave is not a reflection on where Mercedes stands competitively, as he commits to winning more championships without his star driver.
“I think what he said is that he felt he needed change, and I can understand that. We have been together, I believe it was 12 years — I don’t know if any other driver has ever been that long with a team. We’ve had tremendous success, and we shared the opinion when we decided to sign that short-term contract that there may be opportunities for him and for us.
“Therefore, I think also one of the considerations was the opportunity to sign a longer-term contract with Ferrari and give it a really big go at the end of his career. We didn’t talk about whether the opportunity was better there or with us, because I don’t think you can say.
“At the end of the day, he is the most successful driver and we’ve had a sensational spell and journey together — that’s something that will go down in the history books and also in the Mercedes history books.
“But we’re the Mercedes Formula 1 team. We’re the best car brand in the world, a team with legacy and we want to finish this on a high in terms of his career. But I can promise you we will build another phase of success — more victories, more world championships in the years to come — and we will be looking back at this very, very good time with Lewis in the Mercedes.”
Sainz posted on social media after the news that Lewis Hamilton is set to replace him at Ferrari in 2025.
With the shocking news that Lewis Hamilton is joining Scuderia Ferrari from 2025 onward, another Formula 1 driver is currently left without a seat with the move.
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has been with the Prancing Horse since 2021, but with Hamilton’s arrival in 2025, he’ll be left without a drive as Hamilton teams with his current teammate Charles Leclerc — at least in theory. Sainz is certain to be a well-regarded driver in the free-agent market for F1, and he seemed to imply as such on social media Thursday.
Sainz made his own statement in the wake of the news, and while he (like Hamilton on the other end) made sure to stress that he’s still driving for Ferrari in 2024, he’ll definitely have some plans in F1 after that.
Here is what Sainz wrote on social media in wake of the news:
“Following today’s news, Scuderia Ferrari and myself will part ways at the end of 2024. We still have a long season ahead of us and, like always, I will give my absolute best for the team and for the Tifosi all around the world. News about my future will be announced in due course.“
In his career at Ferrari, Sainz has won two races, netted 16 podium places and has scored 610.5 points.
There are a few options for Carlos Sainz in 2025, and he is sure to have suitors. Audi’s new F1 program taking over Sauber will be ready in 2026, and that could be an opportunity he can jump onto. There will be an opening at Mercedes with Hamilton gone, and additionally, many will be watching that second Red Bull seat currently occupied by Sergio Perez. All in all, Sainz is likely to find a suitor somewhere on the grid for 2025.
The news that shocked the motorsport world is now official — it’s Hammer Time in Maranello.
The Formula 1 world was shocked Thursday morning with news that F1 legend and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was set to make the jump to Scuderia Ferrari, and now, that news has been confirmed by both parties.
Both Ferrari and Mercedes have released statements confirming that Hamilton will race one more year with the Silver Arrows before heading to the Prancing Horse in 2025. Hamilton is set to replace Carlos Sainz, who has been at Ferrari since 2021.
Both Hamilton and Mercedes principal Toto Wolff released statements on the matter, with neither mentioning Ferrari by name but regardless remaining appreciative for the time with Mercedes. Additionally, both stressed that while the move is set to be complete in 2025, Hamilton and Wolff will push together for the 2024 season.
Here is what Wolff had to say about the move, per the statement from Mercedes:
“In terms of a team-driver pairing, our relationship with Lewis has become the most successful the sport has seen, and that’s something we can look back on with pride; Lewis will always be an important part of Mercedes motorsport history. However, we knew our partnership would come to a natural end at some point, and that day has now come. We accept Lewis’s decision to seek a fresh challenge, and our opportunities for the future are exciting to contemplate. But for now, we still have one season to go, and we are focused on going racing to deliver a strong 2024.”
And here is what Lewis Hamilton wrote, mirroring the statement in many ways:
“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. 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.”
Ferrari, meanwhile, made a very succinct statement, though and interesting one — the team revealed on social media that it signed Hamilton to a “multi-year contract”, thus tying him down in Maranello for more than one year. How long exactly that is remains to be seen, but it means that this is not simply a retirement campaign for Hamilton — he’s here to compete.
Team Statement
Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract. pic.twitter.com/moEMqUgzXH
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says the team has options that are “exciting to contemplate” when it comes to replacing Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton next year. Hamilton’s shock switch was confirmed on Thursday evening, with the seven-time world …
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says the team has options that are “exciting to contemplate” when it comes to replacing Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton next year.
Hamilton’s shock switch was confirmed on Thursday evening, with the seven-time world champion activating a break clause in the two-year deal he signed in August to join Ferrari in 2025. Wolff says he knew that the partnership would have to end at some stage but that Mercedes has a number of possibilities to replace Hamilton.
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“In terms of a team-driver pairing, our relationship with Lewis has become the most successful the sport has seen, and that’s something we can look back on with pride; Lewis will always be an important part of Mercedes motorsport history,” Wolff said.
“However, we knew our partnership would come to a natural end at some point, and that day has now come. We accept Lewis’s decision to seek a fresh challenge, and our opportunities for the future are exciting to contemplate. But for now, we still have one season to go, and we are focused on going racing to deliver a strong 2024.”
One such option could prove to be the driver Hamilton is replacing at Maranello, with Carlos Sainz on the market in 2025 and offering an experienced race winner. The Spaniard says his future plans will be announced at a later date.
“Following today’s news, Scuderia Ferrari and myself will part ways at the end of 2024,” Sainz said. “We still have a long season ahead of us and, like always, I will give my absolute best for the team and for the tifosi all around the world.
“News about my future will be announced in due course.”
The most surprising development of the Formula 1 off-season, reported by RACER this morning, was confirmed Thursday evening in the UK and Italy with announcements by the Ferrari and Mercedes teams. Ferrari announced it has signed Lewis Hamilton from …
The most surprising development of the Formula 1 off-season, reported by RACER this morning, was confirmed Thursday evening in the UK and Italy with announcements by the Ferrari and Mercedes teams.
Ferrari announced it has signed Lewis Hamilton from 2025 on a multi-year contract, as Mercedes confirms the seven-time world champion activated a break clause to leave.
Hamilton signed a two-year extension last summer but will depart Mercedes at the end of this season, with the team stating he “activated a release option in the contract announced last August and this season will therefore be his last driving for the Silver Arrows,” The move brings to an end an 11-year partnership that has yielded six drivers’ championships and made Hamilton the most successful driver in terms of wins in Formula 1 history.
Soon after the Mercedes announcement, Ferrari issued a statement that simply read: “Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract.”
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In confirming his departure, Hamilton said it was an extremely tough decision to leave Mercedes after so long with the company on top of the success with its F1 team.
“I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I’m so proud of what we have achieved together,” Hamilton said. “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. 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 [Wolff, team principal and CEO] 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.”
Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc having signed a long-term contract extension last week.
Lewis Hamilton’s shock move away from Mercedes is the biggest driver switch since Lewis Hamilton’s shock move to Mercedes, and it caught everyone by surprise. While 2025 looked like it could be a big year in terms of the Formula 1 driver market, …
Lewis Hamilton’s shock move away from Mercedes is the biggest driver switch since Lewis Hamilton’s shock move to Mercedes, and it caught everyone by surprise.
While 2025 looked like it could be a big year in terms of the Formula 1 driver market, Hamilton was supposed to be one of those not involved after having signed a multi-year contract extension with Mercedes late last year.
But that deal had break clauses, and the potential for other moves meant questions were always being asked. While Carlos Sainz did have serious talks to remain at Ferrari, there was always a feeling he wasn’t getting the full commitment from the Scuderia, and before an agreement was signed, Ferrari chairman John Elkann was made aware there was a real possibility of getting the most successful driver in F1 history.
Team principal Fred Vasseur has a positive history with Hamilton, as it was his ART Grand Prix teams that took the Briton to Formula 3 Euro Series and GP2 Series titles in 2005 and 2006 respectively before he made the sensational step up to F1 as a rookie with McLaren. But it was Elkann who really pushed for the biggest names in the most historic cars, and Hamilton had a decision to make.
The Mercedes partnership has been immensely successful, and Hamilton has been involved with so many projects off-track too that it felt like he was staying put until the end of his career. But Ferrari has a romantic pull that no other team on the F1 grid can match, and much like Michael Schumacher went to Maranello to try and bring an end to the team’s drivers’ championship drought, Hamilton now follows in the footsteps of the man he’s level on seven titles with.
Hamilton will be 40 at the time of the move, and will join Ferrari heading into the final year of the current regulations. Perhaps Mercedes will have righted the ship and produced a car capable of challenging Red Bull this year, but if so then Hamilton still gets to drive it for the next 24 races. And if not, the chances of it doing so in 2025 after three underwhelming years would be lower, with focus likely to switch to the new regulations in 2026.
Ferrari is in a very similar position, having fought Mercedes for the runner-up spot to Red Bull — once successfully and once unsuccessfully — in each of the past two seasons. But it’s a team that looked more settled and stable towards the end of 2023, and came very close to overturning a significant deficit compared to Mercedes in the battle for second place.
There was clearly raw pace in last year’s car out of Maranello, too, with seven pole positions (five for Charles Leclerc and two for Sainz) compared to the solitary qualifying success for Mercedes courtesy of Hamilton in Hungary. And of course it was Sainz who won from pole in Singapore to prevent Red Bull securing a clean sweep of the season.
That all adds to the move not actually posing that much of a risk to Hamilton. If he’s going to drive for Ferrari at any stage, it has to be now as he enters the final phase of his career, and he’s picking between two teams with huge resources and histories but that are still likely to be a step behind Red Bull.
So the gamble is for 2026 and which team might get it right then. The only recent indicator is Mercedes got it very wrong at the start of the last set of regulations and Ferrari initially had a car to race Red Bull with. Given that, and no chance of a seat at Red Bull, why not experience what it’s like to be a Ferrari driver and take what is expected to be an even bigger payday to go with it?
With all the records Hamilton has, he has nothing left to prove in F1. But he could write the finest final chapter to his career with a Ferrari title, especially if it meant getting the better of Leclerc in what is a blockbuster pairing.
Charles Leclerc (left) and Lewis Hamilton will have a lot to talk about over the next few years.
Simon Galloway/Motorsport Images
In some ways, Mercedes only has itself to blame in not providing Hamilton with a car that he couldn’t walk away from in the past two years, but sometimes a change of scenery is refreshing for all concerned. And given the recent success and potential within the team — not to mention the huge number of drivers out of contract in 12 months — there will be no shortage of suitors for the vacancy in 2025.
Sainz’s availability might well be of interest, and Alex Albon’s stock has been rising at Williams, while Fernando Alonso will almost certainly keep himself available just in case the car is particularly competitive this season. In George Russell the team has its future — even if he endured a tough spell last year — so it could go for a more experienced teammate, but also has an exciting talent rapidly rising through the ranks in Kimi Antonelli.
The Italian will race in Formula 2 for the first time this year, and although it would be a huge ask for him to put himself in the frame for an F1 seat that quickly, stranger things have happened. Just imagine Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari.
