Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time Formula One winner, has been connected with a surprise switch from Mercedes to Ferrari next year, according to sources Thursday.
According to Sky Sports News, Hamilton will depart Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season to replace Carlos Sainz Jr at Ferrari. It did not reference any sources.
The Daily Mail also reported that the purchase will go through, while motorsport.com stated that it was not yet finalized, but negotiations were advanced and might be completed this week.
When contacted by The Associated Press, Mercedes and Ferrari denied to comment on whether Hamilton will join Ferrari.
Many F1 observers would be surprised by the decision, given that the 39-year-old British driver signed a new two-year contract last summer until 2025, however it is unknown whether the contract included an escape option.
Hamilton won six titles with Mercedes between 2014 and 2021, but lost the championship to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on the penultimate lap of the last race.
Lewis Hamilton is reportedly planning to quit Mercedes for Ferrari.
AP
He has not won a race since 2021 and still holds the record for most wins with 103.
If he joins Ferrari, he is likely to replace Sainz, as Sainz’s colleague, Charles Leclerc, recently signed a multi-year contract extension.
Five years ago, Hamilton was asked if he would ever consider driving for Ferrari.
“If there is a point in my life where I decide I want a change, that potentially could be an option,” he told reporters at the time.
Lewis Hamilton waves as he arrives for the F1 drivers’ group photo before the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix.
AP
According to Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport, Hamilton met with Ferrari chairman John Elkann twice that year to discuss potentially replacing then-driver Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari.
At the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that year, Hamilton was questioned if he had ever met Elkann.
“Naturally, everything that happens behind closed doors is always private with whoever it is you end up sitting with,” Hamilton went on to say. “For many years, I have never sat down and examined other options, because we (Mercedes) have always driven straight ahead, on the same route. We’re still on that course, and there’s very little that will change that.”
Hamilton joined Mercedes from McLaren in 2013, which was an unexpected move at the time.
After dominating till 2020, Hamilton and Mercedes have been frustrated in the last two seasons. Mercedes only won one race in 2022 due to a bouncing effect known in Formula One as porpoising. The team admitted that they got the design wrong.
Preseason Formula One testing begins on February 21 in Bahrain. On March 2, Verstappen will compete in the first of a record 24 races in Bahrain, kicking off his attempt for a fourth consecutive world title.
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