Formula 1 sensation: Lewis Hamilton (39) will leave Mercedes at the end of the season, the team announced. The seven-time English world champion will then drive for Ferrari from 2025.
“Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will join the team in 2025, on a multi-season contract,” said the Italian team in a press release released a few minutes after Mercedes’ announcement of Hamilton’s departure at the end of 2024.
Hamilton had driven for Mercedes since 2013, after starting in F1 with McLaren, where he drove from 2007 to 2012. The Briton enjoyed his greatest success with Mercedes, winning six titles (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 ). The first black driver in the history of F1 opened his list of achievements in 2008.
Very difficult decision
“Leaving Mercedes is one of the most difficult decisions of my career. But it is the right time to take this step. I am excited by this new challenge,” the champion wrote on social networks.
Lewis Hamilton, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at the end of 2020, had signed a new two-year contract with Mercedes for 2024 and 2025. But he had included a departure clause after a season which he chose to activate. He will therefore continue his career with Ferrari where he will team up with Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who recently extended his contract for several years.
In Maranello, Hamilton will arrive to find the French team principal Frédéric Vasseur, whom he had known in 2005 and 2006 in the ART team and had greatly contributed to his arrival in F1 at McLaren in 2007. First crowned Formula 3 Euro champion Series in 2005, the Briton did it again the following year in the GP2 Series, which opened the doors to the premier discipline of motorsport.
Many records
With 103 victories in F1, Hamilton is at the top of the list. He holds many other records, including that of pole positions (104). But the last two exercises – without the slightest success – were frustrating for him, the fault of a car less efficient than in the past.
Sir Lewis is also the only driver whose voice reaches beyond the world of his sport. The Briton has regularly spoken about the racism he faced. He now uses his notoriety to defend diversity: “the most important thing is that my journey is accompanied by a fight for equality”.
After the death of George Floyd, victim of police misconduct in the United States in 2020, the subject became a fight. The driver pushed F1 to position itself and launched a commission in Great Britain to encourage diversity in a predominantly white and male discipline.
Strong personality
Often described as a “pop star”, with his designer outfits, his flashy jewelry and his tattoos, he is also noted for his jet-set lifestyle, becoming the most popular pilot on social networks. His boss at Mercedes Toto Wolff understood this well: one of the keys to success was to leave his champion free. To increase the number of parachute jumps, to develop his collaborations with fashion (collections for Tommy Hilfiger) or music (in the title “Pipe” by Christina Aguilera).
Ferrari will therefore have to learn to deal with the strong personality of Hamilton, who has also openly supported the LGBT cause by wearing a rainbow helmet in countries where homosexuality is illegal such as Qatar or Saudi Arabia. Sir Lewis also appears as a defender of animal rights and the environment.
With Keystone-ATS