In a move that feels like something out of a dream and has sent shockwaves through the Formula 1 community, seven-time Formula 1 championship winner Lewis Hamilton has announced he is leaving his long-time home at Mercedes to join Ferrari in the 2025 Formula 1 season replacing Carlos Sainz. Jr. This ignited speculation and excitement about what this new era will hold for his already remarkable career.
Hamilton’s career began with McLaren in 2007 when he finished in the top three in his debut season alone and won the championship only a year later in 2008. By 2013 he moved to Mercedes which was not considered a powerful and dominant team at the time. This move was phenomenal as Hamilton went on to win in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 with Mercedes making him a 7-time world champion and tying the all-time record with Micheal Schumacher.
“Ferrari had been getting better results during the switch,” Alishba Sofi (10). Prior to Red Bull’s dominance in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Hamilton and Mercedes had been synonymous with success. The struggles Mercedes faced after the 2021 Formula 1 season add up to one of the most compelling reasons for the switch. After losing the 2021 World Championship to Max Verstappen, things started to take a turn for the worse. The car Mercedes ran in 2022, the W-13, was not developed correctly causing problems with porpoising, handling and balance, performance variability, and overall design flaws. Some of the issues of the W-13 were resolved in the W-14 the following year, however, the team still struggled with optimizing the cars’ performance under the new regulations in 2023. “I’m sure there were frustrations, because I had asked for certain changes, and they weren’t done. No one knew exactly what the problem was, no one knew how to fix it,” complained Hamilton.
However, the underperformance of the car was not the only reason for this transition. From a more strategic standpoint, Hamiton’s move can be viewed as an intended risk. Mercedes, despite their dominance of the 2010s, has not always been a competitive dominant team and has been seeing increased competition from teams like Redbull and McLaren. Ferrari, however, has the legacy of being the greatest but has struggled with consistency since the Schumacher era. Ferrari has not won a constructor’s championship since 2008 or had a world champion since 2007. Drivers like Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel came close in the years of 2012 and 2017 however they fell victim to Red Bull in 2010-2013 and Mercedes from 2014-2021.
Despite Ferrari’s recent struggles with consistency, their most recent results in the 2024 season show great promise for the future. One of their current drivers, Charles Leclerc, was able to secure the Ferrari victory at his home race and Ferrari’s home race, along with 9 podium finishes and 3 pole positions. Their other driver Carlos Sainz was able to win in Australia, secure 3 podiums, showing that Ferrari has the potential and resources to develop a competitive car. Hamilton’s move could be the catalyst to making the Ferrari name great again.
With a new team comes new mechanics, principles, and engineers but most importantly a new teammate. Hamilton joining Ferrari for the 2025 season means his new teammate will be Charles Leclerc. Leclerc described Hamilton’s arrival as a positive development for Ferrari and acknowledged Hamilton’s experience and success. The two drivers have the potential to run a winning team, however the potential for conflict cannot be ignored. Hamilton and Leclerc are both ambitious and competitive drivers, which could escalate into team turmoil.
“They’re both very strong in their racing so it definitely has potential to be a Silver War situation but they’re both respectful to their teammates,” commented Alishba Sofi. Hamilton’s past experience with former teammate Nico Rosberg has proved to improve his relationship with his current and past teammates after Rosberg.
The reactions from the media concerning Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari have been mixed. “There’s both positive and negative reactions because there are band wagons that are going to flock to Ferrari, but you also have die hard Mercedes fans,” added Joshua Shepherd (10). There are fans that are thrilled and excited to see Hamilton in the iconic red next season, viewing it as an opportunity to bring back the Ferrari glory days. On the flip side there are fans who are more skeptical about Ferrari’s inconsistency and reliability issues. They fear that this will tarnish his legacy if Ferrari fails to deliver a competitive car. “I think that his legacy is going to be tainted because he switched teams when he shouldn’t have,” predicted Joshua Shepherd (10).
Despite the risks, joining Ferrari was arguably Hamilton’s best option moving forward. Driving for the Scuderia, combined with the opportunity to rebuild his legacy by bringing success back to Maranello, is a powerful motivator. With this move Hamilton will continue to be able to compete at the highest level with one of the top teams on the grid, as Ferrari has both the motivation and the ambition to challenge for titles and championships.
