What Lewis Hamilton’s Shocking Team Change Means For Ferrari, Mercedes

Ferrari confirmed Thursday that the team was signing seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton to a multi-year contract. Hamilton will leave Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season, putting both top teams on wildly different trajectories going forward.

“The time is right for me to take this step and I’m excited to be taking on a new challenge,” Hamilton said. “I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family … and I want to finish on a high together.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also commented on Ferrari’s announcement, alluding to the team’s ambitious plans to move on from Hamilton in 2025.

We knew our partnership would come to a natural end at some point, and that day has now come,” Wolff said. “We accept Lewis’s decision to seek a fresh challenge, and our opportunities for the future are exciting to contemplate.”

For the last two seasons, Mercedes has teamed veteran Hamilton with rising star George Russell, and it seemed that that arrangement would continue when Wolff and Russell recently signed extensions. Now, Hamilton will only be around for another season, giving Russell the opportunity to become the team’s lead driver in 2025.

To replace Hamilton, Wolff will likely sign a younger driver to accompany Russell. Though it’s far too early to accurately speculate, Alex Albon has worked with the team in the past and has been impressive as a Williams driver over the last two years.

While Mercedes embraces the future through Russell, the dynamic at Ferrari will likely be more complicated. Hamilton has been the lead driver on McLaren and then Mercedes for the vast majority of his F1 career. But at age 40 next year, he will be the new face on a team already commanded by talented competitor Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc, 26, has been Ferrari’s star driver for several seasons now, and the team has repeatedly chosen to invest in him over other drivers. The Monegasque driver signed an extension with the team through 2026, leaving current Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz as the odd man out with Hamilton’s impending arrival. Leclerc and Sainz have repeatedly butted heads while vying for support from team leadership, and it is unlikely that this dynamic shifts when Hamilton replaces the latter driver.

Sainz, a capable driver with one career win and 15 podiums, will almost certainly find another team for 2025. But Ferrari could continue to face challenges as Hamilton vies for attention alongside Leclerc. For a team that has become notorious for poor and disorganized decision making in recent seasons, managing Hamilton correctly will be extremely important as the team looks to re-enter championship contention.