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Ferrari’s new Formula 1 signing Lewis Hamilton says he is driven by the same “feeling” when making the move as when he originally joined Mercedes in 2013.
Hamilton will leave Mercedes at the end of the 2024 F1 season, halfway through what was originally announced as a two-year contract extension, to don red with the Scuderia.
A Saturday social media post from the seven-time champion was not the first time he publicly addressed the move, as was already cited in the Mercedes press release announcing his imminent departure, but it certainly provided a much more detailed look at his thought. .
Hamilton described the stretch that included the signing and its announcement as “a few crazy days filled with a whole series of emotions.”
“I feel incredibly lucky, after achieving things with Mercedes that I could only have dreamed of as a child, I now have the opportunity to fulfill another childhood dream. Driving in Ferrari red,” he wrote.
And after paying tribute to his Mercedes team, the brand, the late team advisor Niki Lauda and team principal Toto Wolff, and describing the decision as “the most difficult one I have ever had to make”, Hamilton drew a parallel between the movement he was in now and his decision to change McLaren for Mercedes in 2013.
Back then, they had gone from a top team that finished third in the previous year’s standings to something of a rebuilding project. But it paid off: McLaren entered a long period of inactivity just as Hamilton left and Mercedes began a run of spectacular dominance once hybrid engine regulations came into force in 2014.
Now, as then, Hamilton is making its move a year before a major change in engine regulations.
“I still remember the feeling of taking a leap of faith into the unknown when I first joined Mercedes in 2013.
“I know some people didn’t understand it at the time, but I was right to make the decision then and it’s the feeling I have again now.
“However, at the moment I am not thinking about 2025. My focus is on next season and getting back on track with Mercedes.
“I am more motivated than ever, fitter and more focused than ever and I want to help Mercedes win once again.”
The race says
Scott Mitchell-Malm
Firstly, you can see the parallels between Hamilton’s bombshell at Ferrari and his surprising switch to Mercedes: the surprise, the magnitude of the decision, the prospect of leaving a long-time partner to gamble on something that on the surface not seem. an evident competitive improvement.
But this is still a higher degree. A major break because at least then it had some degree of continuity given that Mercedes had been part of that long-term support of McLaren.
He also had a large part of his career ahead of him, so he had more time to get everything right. And he was actually just moving from one UK team to another; He wasn’t uprooting himself in the same way he is doing now.
There are also more differences. He is towards the end of his racing career and will join a team where the starting driver is young, loved and super fast. And even if Ferrari builds an impressive 2025 car and meets the 2026 regulations, Hamilton is unlikely to have enough time on his side to replicate the longevity of his Mercedes stint, so the possibility of repeating the extent of the success of his Mercedes is low.
Because of all this, it is easy for others not to understand why he is doing this, just as many did not do more than a decade ago. Hamilton describes that as “taking a leap of faith into the unknown,” but he had good reasons for doing so, and the same applies now.
If he is rewarded with wins and perhaps even that elusive eighth title, then he has certainly proven competitive. It may be another case of having the right feeling at the right time, making a move that ends with a success that you wouldn’t have had if you had stayed in the same place.
But there are other factors that clearly make this the right thing for him. He will be handsomely rewarded as a driver; there are suggestions of a huge salary that Mercedes was unwilling or unable to match. He appears to be getting a long-term deal that he wasn’t going to get with Mercedes. And if there was any feeling that Mercedes doubted him, Ferrari and John Elkann seem to have made him feel extremely loved.
Don’t underestimate that. Even F1 superstars and elder statesmen are human, and feeling love goes a long way. We saw it with Fernando Alonso and now we see it with Hamilton.
There also appears to be a real commitment from Ferrari to giving Hamilton everything he wants and needs beyond being a racing driver, whether as a long-term ambassador or supporting his various projects outside of F1 committed to diversity initiatives and inclusion and enacting broader social initiatives. change. Mercedes has been a great ally in that sense but Ferrari seems willing to continue the work and even invest in making it grow even more.
Hamilton will get a lot from his deal with Ferrari, on and off the track. And while the move may not make much sense to some watching from afar, if Hamilton gets even half of what is rumored, he won’t care one bit.