Lewis Hamilton has admitted he will have to hold conversations with Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff over his impending exit from the team at the end of 2024.
Despite penning an extension with Mercedes last August, Hamilton elected to activate a break clause in that contract to negotiate a switch to Ferrari from next term.
This will mark the second time Hamilton will change teams following his switch from McLaren to Mercedes, which led to him adding six titles and 82 race victories.
But the Briton announced he would be leaving the Woking-based squad in September 2012, whereas he has to see out a whole season prior to his move to Maranello.
Wolff admitted that the decision to announce the bombshell news ahead of the current campaign starting came amid the rumours being leaked in the Italian media.
With Hamilton set to be phased from engineering meetings as Mercedes builds towards 2025, he has conceded that he will seek talks with Wolff later this campaign.
Asked whether discussions would need to be held closer to his Ferrari venture to ensure he’s prepared for the move, Hamilton said: “I mean at some stage I will have to.
“I think it will start with a conversation with Toto, because I don’t know how to navigate. I’ve never been in this position before at this point in the year.
“When I was leaving McLaren it was towards the end of the season, I think I didn’t go to Mercedes until December, had my first seat fit after the season was done, so I imagine the same here.
Hamilton has endured his worst-ever start to an F1 season, while Ferrari has scored podiums in each round and sits in second place, 86 points clear of Mercedes.
However, the seven-time champion insists that his sole focus is on aiding the German marque’s revival rather than looking towards his future squad’s resurgence.
“I don’t really… not quite sure how to navigate it, but right now I want to finish on a high here, so all my energy is here,” Hamilton continued.
“Of course, there’s excitement about the future but right now we’re going through a difficult phase and that’s my challenge, all my energy is going to try and figure out how we can get ourselves back to the top, how can we work with the guys, get better direction, I’m a competitor, I want to win, and thinking about next year is not going to help me do that.”
