Lewis Hamilton has denied that his impending switch to Ferrari in 2025 emanated from doubts he had surrounding Mercedes being able to win titles again in Formula 1.
It was announced earlier this month that Hamilton will be ending his long-serving association with Mercedes to pursue a move to Ferrari from the start of next season.
Hamilton has been aligned with the German marque his entire F1 career, with his arrival at its works squad in 2013 seeing him become the sport’s most decorated driver.
However, the Briton has not added to his record win total since December 2021 amid Mercedes’ failure to nail a car concept under the latest ground effect regulations.
That had prompted some speculation that Hamilton had lost faith in the team, with team-mate George Russell echoing that sentiment on Netflix’s Drive to Survive docuseries.
But when asked if that had been a factor in his decision, Hamilton retorted: “No honestly it wasn’t. I truly believe that this team as I mentioned earlier is going to win another championship.
“It’s an incredible group of people and it’s really well run. Mercedes has such an incredible history and from the board down they are really heavily invested in racing and so many areas.
“Regardless whether or not this is a championship winning car, it doesn’t have any bearing on how I feel about it, the next stage of my career.”
Hamilton added that the chance to end Ferrari’s protracted championship drought stretching back to 2008 enticed him to take up a new challenge in the twilight of his career.
“As I said, it’s all about a new chapter in my life and I really feel like I’ve done everything I could possibly do with this team and I’m on the back end of my career,” he continued.
“I love a challenge and this is the ultimate challenge really to go to a team that is incredibly iconic, has also an amazing history. But also has not had as much success as I guess as they would have hoped in the past decade or so.
“So they’re [Ferrari] already looking very strong this weekend which is positive for them and I hope that my goal is to beat them this year and I’ll see that switches next year also.”
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez had touted that the timing of the news could create an awkward dynamic between Hamilton and Mercedes at points during this season.
But Hamilton has clarified that the mood within Mercedes has remained unchanged since the bombshell revelation, citing that he has received full support from the team.
“Nothing really changes,” Hamilton responded when asked about the atmosphere. “I was back at the factory last, on Monday. It’s full attack. Everyone’s all hands on deck.
“And the team, I’ve been with this team such a long time. There’s so much love within the team. And I still, and will always will, love this team.
“Everyone was incredibly understanding within the team, hugely supportive. Everyone knows that I’m here to deliver for them this year, so that’s the focus.
“It’s the same as any other year. It is emotional, and every week will be emotional. The seat fit is your last seat fit with the team and you’ve been doing it. You remember it, the first one. The winter test is the last winter test that I’ll do with the team. And so each, there’s going to be a lot of emotional experiences through the year, but we’ll do it together.”
Mercedes has committed to a complete overhaul with its W15 challenger as it bids to return to race-winning ways after enduring a first barren season since 2011 last term.
Both drivers provided a positive assessment of the extensive changes following pre-season testing, but Hamilton admits that Mercedes has work to do to catch Red Bull.
“It’s always an exciting time of the year and you see everyone just coming together and everyone just getting on with their job, great motivation within the team and we have a better platform to work off from this year,” he expressed.
“We still have some problems that we’re having to work through and it’s not perfect but it’s definitely a better starting place from the past two years, so we are relatively happy in that respect.
“We’re not where we want to be and not compete with these other guys at the front but we work towards it.”
