Lewis Hamilton LIVE: F1 star explains Ferrari move for 2025 and latest news
The British driver has been with the Silver Arrows since 2013 but will leave next year
Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes after more than a decade with the Formula One team, after official confirmation he has agreed a move to Ferrari for 2025.
With the new campaign only three weeks away it marks a shocking way to start F1 in 2024, while also sparking what could be a long period of speculation over who would take Hamilton’s seat at Mercedes.
It’s over two years since the Brit has won an F1 race as the Silver Arrows have struggled to keep pace with Red Bull’s designs and drivers. During the close season he has moved to bring Marc Hynes back into his support team for the new campaign, while Ferrari have themselves appointed another Brit, Ollie Bearman, as their reserve driver for the year.
Follow all the latest news and updates regarding Lewis Hamilton’s future in our live blog below:
Toto Wolff hints at Mercedes direction in replacing Lewis Hamilton after Ferrari exit
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff hinted that the team will make a “bold” move to replace Lewis Hamilton after their star driver chose to join Ferrari next year.
Seven-time F1 world champion Hamilton, who won six of his seven titles at Mercedes, will leave the Silver Arrows at the end of the year to take up a “multi-year contract” at Ferrari in 2025.
It leaves Wolff, who has worked with Hamilton for the last 11 years, needing to find a new driver to partner George Russell next year.
Toto Wolff hints at Mercedes direction in replacing Lewis Hamilton after Ferrari exit
Wolff is looking for a new driver to partner George Russell in 2025 after Hamilton’s Ferrari decision
The winners and losers from Lewis Hamilton’s shock Ferrari move
Here are a couple of excerpts from Kieran Jackson’s look at the winners and losers from Hamilton’s Ferrari move:
LOSER
Carlos Sainz
“Let’s start with the most obvious. This is a bitter pill for Carlos Sainz to swallow.
“The only non-Red Bull driver to win a race last year – with a terrifically intelligent drive in Singapore - the Spaniard would be right to feel hard done by. Yes, he’s made mistakes, but his progress as a driver while at the Scuderia has been unquestionable.
“But F1 is full of stories of drivers being harshly swept aside. Sainz will come back – and should have no shortage of suitors.”
WINNER
George Russell
“As now the only confirmed driver for Mercedes in 2025, on the cusp of a new era of regulations a year later, this is the opportunity for George Russell to be the maker of his own destiny.
“Upon arriving at a seat at the top table in 2022, Russell thought he’d be joining the sport’s No 1 powerhouse after eight straight team championships. But two years dogged down after failing miserably with their car design and aerodynamics saw Mercedes struggle, though Russell did seal his first F1 win in 2022 in Brazil.
“Yet you always felt as though Russell was teetering around Hamilton’s vast shadow at the Silver Arrows.”
More on Russell, and more winners and losers, below:
The winners and losers from Lewis Hamilton’s shock Ferrari move
The surprising news of Hamilton’s Mercedes departure has wide-reaching ramifications across Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton given significant Ferrari commitment to invest in F1 driver’s business empire
There is wild speculation around the Ferrari investment for Lewis Hamilton.
20 Minutes reports Hamilton will only earn €60m per season.
The sticking point in negotiations and the eventual divorce with Mercedes appears to be Hamilton’s role as an ambassador until 2035.
After this proposal was rejected, the French outlet reports John Elkann swooped in with a commitment to invest €400m in Hamilton’s business empire and projects.
Carlos Sainz responds after being dropped by Ferrari for Lewis Hamilton next year
Carlos Sainz insists he will “give his absolute best” this year after being dropped by Ferrari for Lewis Hamilton in 2025.
The shock news on Thursday sees seven-time F1 world champion Hamilton leave Mercedes after 11 years in which he won six world titles.
Hamilton, 39, has exercised a release clause in his two-year contract to leave the Silver Arrows and take up a “multi-year contract” with the Scuderia.
It leaves Sainz, who claimed Ferrari’s only victory last year in Singapore, somewhat in the lurch and without a drive for 2025.y
The Spaniard said in a brief statement on Twitter/X: “Following today’s news, Scuderia Ferrari and myself will part ways at the end of 2024.
“We still have a long season ahead of us and, like always, I will give my absolute best for the team and for the tifosi all around the world. News about my future will be announced in due course.”
Carlos Sainz responds after being dropped by Ferrari for Lewis Hamilton next year
The Spanish driver will leave Ferrari after the 2024 season and is now searching for a new team
Lewis Hamilton to bank $100m per season at Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton could earn up to $100m per year from 2025 with new team Ferrari.
Formu1a.uno journalist Giuliano Duchessa reports the Briton could earn a huge pay rise from his current terms with Mercedes.
John Elkann’s relationship with Hamilton was decisive but Hamilton reportedly was convinced by technical guarantees for the future from the Scuderia.
The Ferrari engine in 2026, being created in Maranello was critical, with Elkann and Frederic Vasseur making guarantees over the technical aspects.
Toto Wolff has no doubts over Lewis Hamilton’s integrity ahead of Ferrari switch
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has no concerns over Lewis Hamilton’s integrity ahead of the seven-time world champion’s drawn out move to Ferrari.
Hamilton is entering the first year of a new two-year deal with Mercedes worth £100million, but shocked the world of Formula One by activating a release clause in the agreement to join Ferrari from 2025.
Wolff insisted he would not hold a grudge against Hamilton after the 39-year-old broke the news over breakfast at Wolff’s home in Oxford on Wednesday, and also has no concerns about the Briton sharing sensitive information with his future team.
Toto Wolff has no doubts over Lewis Hamilton’s integrity ahead of Ferrari switch
Mercedes driver Hamilton shocked the world of Formula One earlier this week by activating a release clause to join Ferrari from 2025.
‘It’s like Cristiano Ronaldo joining Juventus!’ Italian media react to Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari move
Italian media outlets have compared Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari to when Cristiano Ronaldo moved from Real Madrid to Juventus in 2018.
Hamilton has made the shock decision to join the iconic Italian team next year, leaving Mercedes after this year’s F1 season following 12 years and six world titles at the Silver Arrows.
The story broke in the Italian press early on Thursday morning and the excitement is palpable, with comparisons to Ronaldo’s £88m deal to join Juve six years ago.
‘It’s like Ronaldo joining Juventus!’ Italian media react to Hamilton’s Ferrari move
Hamilton will join the iconic Italian team when he leaves Mercedes after the 2024 season
Petronas plots F1 return for Malaysian Grand Prix in 2026
Malaysia‘s state oil company Petroliam Nasional, or Petronas, is looking to bring back Formula One races to Malaysia in 2026, after a nine-year hiatus, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter.
Malaysia hosted a leg of the F1 world championship at its Sepang International Circuit (SIC) from 1999 but staged its last race in 2017, due to declining ticket sales and the rising costs of hosting the event.
Petronas, Malaysia’s only Fortune 500 company, won naming rights to the SIC for three years in October last year. The circuit continues to host MotoGP races and other motorsport events.
F1 could return to Malaysia in 2026 after Petronas plan revealed
Malaysia’s state oil company could bring back the race last seen at the Sepang International Circuit in 2017, when Max Verstappen beat out Lewis Hamilton for victory
More from Toto:
On Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur:
I have great respect for Fred, not only as a racing manager but as a long time friend. But when he took the role at Ferrari it’s clear he needed to do the best for them and take every opportunity in order to do that. So there’s no bad feeling towards Fred, trying to get the best employees.
It’s a cut throat environment. We’ve spoken numerous times. We’ve coordinated on our communications and I speak to him multiple times every week. You know, it’s a little bit like rugby, we punch each other on the nose, but we’re able to get off the pitch and have a respectful relationship.
As for Lewis, clearly the timing was surprising to us. But I guess what he tried to do is maybe give us a long time to decide what we want to do going forward to next year. I’ve no doubt that Fred will be able to have a very good relationship with Lewis as his boss. No doubt about that. They’ve known each other for 20 years.
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