Lewis Hamilton’s shock move to Ferrari for the 2025 F1 season has been confirmed. The Italian team acknowledged the news with a short statement reading, “Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract.”
- 2024 to be Hamilton’s last season with Mercedes
- Multi-year contract signed with Ferrari
- Hamilton to replace Sainz
This year will be Hamilton’s 12th season with Mercedes, with their partnership churning out six drivers’ and eight constructors’ titles. In fact, Hamilton has spent all 17 seasons of his F1 career driving a Mercedes-powered car.
Last year, he signed a two-year contract extension with Mercedes that was believed to run until the end of 2025. However, it now appears that this deal has an exit clause for the second year, leaving Hamilton free to join another team. Mercedes confirmed this in its statement saying, “Lewis has activated a release option in the contract announced last August and this season will therefore be his last driving for the Silver Arrows.”
After a period of dominating F1, Mercedes struggled with adapting to the new 2022 rules which reintroduced ground effects. In a bid to return to form, Mercedes has changed the concept of its W15 racer, which will be revealed later this month. However, at 39 years old, Hamilton is running out of time if he wants to secure his eighth F1 world title. And securing that title in a Ferrari would have been an alluring prospect for the Briton.
“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,” said Hamilton.
“I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family, especially Toto [Wolff] for his friendship and leadership and I want to finish on a high together. I am 100 percent committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my last year with the Silver Arrows, one to remember.”
Hamilton will be partnering Charles Leclerc at Ferrari. The Monegasque had just signed a new multi-year contract, extending his deal with the Italian squad for “several more seasons”. Current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz is contracted to the team only until the end of this year, and he’s been linked to potential seat at the new Audi team entering F1 in 2026.
Mercedes F1 Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff added, “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’ 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.”
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