The seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton will leave his longtime home of Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season to take the seat of Carlos Sainz at Ferrari. When rumors were confirmed, the Formula 1 world was turned upside down on Feb. 1. It has been up in the air since Hamilton signed a contract with Mercedes that kept him with the team through 2025. Still, he activated the release option clause in the contract that allowed him to simultaneously sign with Ferrari and end the 2024 season with Mercedes. While Hamilton says he is nowhere close to retiring, the British driver is looking to get his eighth World Champion title. Tied with Michael Schumacher with a seventh title, Hamilton has been determined to become the first driver to win eight World Champions.
Starting with the car that Mercedes came out with at the beginning of the 2022 season, there has been a noticeable difference in performance between Hamilton and George Russell, his British teammate. Problems occurred with the car becoming undrivable and constantly bouncing on the track. With Mercedes finishing second in the Constructors’ Championship and Hamilton finishing second in standings amongst drivers, there was a need for change in the garage. Even with the start of this 2024 season, Mercedes does not look like the dominating team it had been for all those years. While each driver has issues with the car, Hamilton seems to be having the most trouble with the car and getting pole position during qualifying.
Hamilton’s F1 career started at McLaren in 2007 and he stayed with the team until 2012. From his debut race, Hamilton won his spotlight in his first race, making the podium, followed by nine races after that. While his second season and the start of his third started with rocky results and multiple team conspiracies, Hamilton made his way back to winning in the MP4-24. His start in F1 set the tone for his success, and in 2012, Hamilton announced his move to Mercedes. From then on, Hamilton flourished with the team and began setting records left and right. Though not all weekends were met with ideal podium positions, Hamilton still made a name for himself with the team, becoming a household name and even earning Knighthood from the Queen after winning his seventh world championship.
With the decision being made with a year left with the team that carried him, there were questions about why now and what this holds for him. He answered in a press conference, “In the summer we signed, and obviously I, at that time, saw my future with Mercedes. But an opportunity came up in the new year, and I decided to take it. We’ve created history within the sport, and it’s something I take a lot of pride in, and I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved. But I think ultimately I’m writing my story, and I felt like it was time to start a new chapter.”
Fans new and old were shocked and devastated by the news. With how the Ferrari team is doing so far this season with both drivers taking podium wins in the first two races of the season, there are a lot of questions on whether Ferrari can take Hamilton to his eighth world championship.
