The EHU Times

Whether someone likes it or not, the man who actually dominated most of the «turbo era» still decides to leave Mercedes for Ferrari. This is exactly the news that royal motorsport fans woke up to on the morning of February 1st. It would seem that this is just another transfer of a pilot from one team to another, nothing more, but is that so?

Lewis Hamilton is, however, more than your average motorsport driver. During his time with the Silver Arrows, he managed to win 6 titles, which allowed him to break many records of no less an epoch-making racer, Michael Schumacher. But what’s eating Hamilton is the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He still believes that the FIA management took away his record 8th title, giving it to the Dutch RedBull driver Max Verstappen.

After 2021, Mercedes can no longer compete with the «bulls,» but the British driver still wants victories and setting an absolute record for titles. That is why Hamilton decides to break ties with the team that helped him become the racer who will be remembered decades from now.

In fact, Hamilton’s contract with Ferrari is no less surprising. The racer, who will be fully 40 years old during his collaboration with the Italian team, is making a grand transition from one top team to another. And this despite the pilot’s advanced age for the sport. Usually, in such years, if pilots remain, they spend the remaining seasons in middling teams or even outsiders.

This once again demonstrates that the British racing driver managed to convince the Italians that he is still at the peak of his form and is capable of competing for big prizes, of course, if he is given a car with good potential.

Should you worry about Mercedes?

Hamilton’s departure from the German team is a big loss. He was the main guide and ideologist in the development of the «silver arrow» cars. It was according to his orders and preferences that the championship cars were designed from 2014 to 2021. During this time, he became the face of the Mercedes brand and even starred in a film about racing with Brad Pitt. Hamilton’s image has gone far beyond motorsport: he is invited to fashion shows, he knows personally many musical performers and film actors, and even received the title of Knight of the British Empire from the late Queen Elizabeth II for his great contribution to the image of the fatherland on the world stage.

Of course, such a person helped pitch enviable investors who brought suitcases of money to the Mercedes office, and not every driver can do this. For example, no matter how talented Max Verstappen or George Russell are, it is unlikely that their names will now say anything to people far from Formula 1.

But Mercedes, as a team, should not be pitied. The team manager, Toto Wolff, already understood that Hamilton was not getting younger every year, his ambitions were also not getting smaller, and the German team was now unable to offer an unprecedentedly fast car.

However, Mercedes has great resources and they clearly shouldn’t rush to find a new driver. According to rumors, right now there is a long queue for an attractive place in the top team. For example, the silver arrows can take the equally experienced Fernando Alonso, a man who, at 42 years old, shows excellent results in Aston Martin, a mid-table team with great opportunities in the future. He already has the reputation of a pilot who loves to make non-trivial decisions and abruptly sign contracts with different teams. For example, in 2022 he signed a contract with Aston Martin, which was unexpected for the French team Alpine.

And this is not to mention the young drivers both inside F1, like Carlos Sainz, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, a talented driver inside Formula 2 who shows great promise.

Carlos Sainz will leave Ferrari

There are already memes on social networks that a person who last season was able to defeat RedBull in one race will still be eliminated. And this despite the fact that Sainz is a fairly stable driver, capable of squeezing all the juice out of the car in the main race on Sunday, but suffering from a lack of balance in Saturday qualifying.

In fact, compared to the Monegasque Leclerc, Sainz Jr. does not have the same huge fan base within the Ferrari community. At the same time, he allowed disagreement with Ferrari’s conflicting racing strategies and imposed his vision on the race situation. Perhaps such an ardent character did not please the Scuderia, and there was not much support for him within the team, like for Charles Leclerc.

But Sainz Jr. clearly doesn’t need to worry. He is a high-level driver with a famous rally racing father. In addition to the candidate for the empty seat of Mercedes, he is predicted to perform at Audi in 2026 due to the elder Sainz’s connections with the management of the German automaker.

What about Ferrari?

The decision is contradictory from a strategic and financial point of view, but a great PR move. Just thanks to rumors, Ferrari shares jumped 6 percent! But at that time, there was no official announcement of the contract!

According to insider information, the British racing driver will be able to earn a record $100 million a year. Of course, the whole Hamilton-Ferrari saga has been going on since the beginning of the last decade; everyone has speculated on this topic: from the yellow press to official commentators within the royal sport.

In fact, the duo is very strong, the British driver knows how to work with the team to achieve success. But Italians also have something to offer. Besides money, Ferrari understands that Hamilton needs even more —  an eighth title. Such an award will allow him to break Michael Schumacher’s record and return to the throne of the most important influencer inside Formula 1. This will allow him to increase his personal fees and grants from investors, who will again order progressive statements from him about current events in the world.

The Hamilton-Ferrari project is interesting, but very risky. This is definitely a new chapter not only for the British racing driver, but for Formula 1 as a whole. It’s not for nothing that Lewis is leaving for the Italian stable; most likely, he received information «about some success» in the medium term, and that there will be a serious chance to compete for the title. Hamilton, from Mercedes’ experience, is willing and able to create the right environment around himself, and that’s a fact. But if suddenly something doesn’t go according to plan for Ferrari again, then Hamilton will have to not cheat this time, but simply leave Formula 1. The Italians will not intend to keep the Briton for many years for old times sake, as Mercedes did. Such a collapse will only cast doubt on the extent to which Hamilton made the right decision, and whether Ferrari’s management is competent in terms of team building.

Of course, it is impossible to predict what will happen next, but perhaps after Ferrari, Hamilton will no longer be interested in F1 and he will want to go to some other field, especially with such money and, importantly, connections, he is able to find engaging in almost any activity.

To sum up, we can say that Formula 1 fans are in for an interesting year in 2025. At the very least, you’ll have to get used to looking at Hamilton in red. And Mercedes will have to look through a lot of CVs of candidates for the coveted place in the car.

Author: Matsvei Atamanchyk