Lewis Hamilton leaves Mercedes for Ferrari: Everything you need to know

This marks an end to an 11-year long run with the Mercedes works team in Formula One. “I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I'm so proud of what we have achieved together. Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old”, said Lewis.

Together, Mercedes and Hamilton collected 82 wins, 74 poles, and six world titles in a short seven years, making the 39-year old Briton F1’s most successful driver by the numbers (though a young Max Verstappen is fast closing the gap).

“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”, he added.

In response, team principal & CEO Toto Wolff said: “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 was publicised as a two-year deal with Mercedes, but as it transpires the contract was a fixed one-year term with a release clause for Hamilton.

Lewis is no stranger to Ferrari’s new boss Fred Vasseur (who replaced Mattia Binotto in November 2022) having raced under Fred in his GP2 years at ART.

There were reports last year that Hamilton was meeting or dinner with Vasseur and Ferrari president John Elkann and evidently they ran a little deeper than just friendly pasta, with the deal coming to fruition.

For how long is not yet known, only that Hamilton’s is a multi-year contract beginning in 2025.

Of the 20 filling grid positions, 13 driver's contracts will run out at the end of 2024.

Young talents Lando Norris, George Russell, and Oscar Piastri are all on lock with their respective teams – and Leclerc signed another ‘multi-year’ contract (La Gazzetta de la Sport reports it as another five-year deal) with Ferrari at the end of last year – but there’s plenty of room for movement. 

For Mercedes, it would make sense to elevate Alex Albon into the works team with Russell as he’s been performing well in the Williams car despite its limitations; there’s Alpine’s feisty Esteban Ocon to look at as well as young gun F2 racer Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

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