Lewis Hamilton will be in the famous red of Ferrari from the 2025 season after his move from Mercedes was confirmed.
Hamilton, seeking to mount a challenge to current world champion Max Verstappen, will hope that a switch to the Italian team will help him add to his 103 race wins and aid his quest for an eighth F1 drivers’ title.
Carlos Sainz has also confirmed his exit from Ferrari in 2025.
The upcoming Formula 1 season got a major injection of momentum on football’s transfer deadline day when it was widely reported that Hamilton had agreed terms to make the move to the famous Italian team.
Mercedes, Ferrari, and Hamilton were tight-lipped when the reports emerged, but the German team and driver confirmed their split later on Thursday.
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 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.
Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff paid tribute to the departing Hamilton.
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, Wolff said. 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.
It is a switch both Hamilton and Ferrari will hope revive their fortunes.
Hamilton has not won a race since taking the chequered flag at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix in 2021.
His Mercedes team has largely been well off the pace set by current world champion Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
It has been a similar story for Ferrari, who won only once in 2023 when Carlos Sainz landed the Singapore Grand Prix.
The news of Hamilton’s link-up with Ferrari put Sainz’s place with the team in the spotlight, given his teammate Charles Leclerc recently signed a long-term deal with the Scuderia.
And Sainz took to social media on Thursday evening to confirm his time with Ferrari would come to an end at the conclusion of the 2024 season.
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.
Hamilton has seven world titles to his name, six of which came with Mercedes, and is eager to break out of the tie he is currently in with Michael Schumacher.
He will hope a move to Ferrari will set him on the road to that goal and help him add to his 103 race wins.
