Motorsport
The Formula 1 sensation: Hamilton will probably be in a Ferrari from 2025
Lewis Hamilton is reportedly set to join Ferrari in 2025. photo
© Tim Goode/Press Association/dpa
Like Schumacher once did, like Vettel once did? Even Hamilton can’t resist the myth in red. He is reportedly moving to Ferrari in 2025. It would be sensational news before the start of the season.
According to Sky Sports in England, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff informed the staff at the headquarters in Brackley about Hamilton’s change, which was hardly thought possible. Mercedes and Ferrari initially did not comment on the speculation when asked by the German Press Agency.
If the sensational change comes about, Hamilton’s final season in a Silver Arrow will begin in around a month. In 2025, the seven-time world champion would wear red – like the seven-time champion Michael Schumacher and the four-time title holder Sebastian Vettel.
Mercedes only extended the contracts with Hamilton and his compatriot George Russell until the end of 2025 in August last year. There had always been speculation about a change. Hamilton moderated this quite gallantly, but also reported on his good relationship with Ferrari boss John Elkann and also with team boss Frédéric Vasseur.
Crisis of the Silver Arrows as a catalyst for change?
It still seemed almost unimaginable that he could actually leave Mercedes. Under team boss Wolff, Hamilton, who also liked to talk about ending his career at Mercedes, became a consistent triumph for years. Coming into the 2013 season as Michael Schumacher’s successor after his final retirement, Hamilton became world champion in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2016 he had to admit defeat to his then teammate Nico Rosberg. Since 2021 the title has gone to Max Verstappen.
The Silver Arrows’ crisis in the past two years and the grueling wait of someone who is used to success for the next (it would be the 104th) victory since December 2021 could have influenced Hamilton’s decision. However, Ferrari has been waiting for the next title success among the drivers since Kimi Räikkönen’s triumph in 2007 – Hamilton’s first year in Formula 1.
Chance for Mick Schumacher?
Vettel was unable to create an era like the one Michael Schumacher had shaped at the Scuderia with his five titles in a row. His time at Ferrari from 2015 to 2020 was ultimately one of failure. The two-time champion Fernando Alonso was once lured to Maranello. He also didn’t become world champion with the most famous of all Formula 1 cars.
And Hamilton’s designated teammate Charles Leclerc has also tried again and again in vain. The contract with the 26-year-old Monegasque was recently extended early. The Spaniard Carlos Sainz would have to vacate the cockpit for Hamilton after this season. Who would succeed the Brit at Mercedes? There could be an opportunity for Mick Schumacher, who is also a reserve pilot this year and otherwise competes in long-distance races for the French Alpine team.
The special charm
“Our story is not over yet, we are determined to achieve more together and we will not stop until we have achieved it,” Hamilton said during his last contract extension with Mercedes.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff acknowledged Ferrari’s appeal years ago. “You have to recognize that every driver probably has the desire to drive for Ferrari one day,” said the Austrian in 2019. Ferrari is simply the iconic and historic brand in Formula 1.
And so the excitement and rumors of a move to Formula 1’s most illustrious racing team have accompanied Hamilton for years. Hamilton admitted last year that he had already imagined what it would be like to “drive in red.” “But then I go to my team, to Mercedes, and that is my home.” Hamilton’s future home is likely to be called Ferrari.