Lewis Hamilton’s move from Mercedes to Ferrari ahead of the 2025 season has been confirmed with the Italian team announcing he has signed a “multi-year contract”.
Hamilton has failed to win a race and cut a frustrated figure throughout the last two campaigns, with Mercedes battling reliability issues with their W13 and W14 cars.
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The seven-time world champion was linked with moves to both Red Bull and Ferrari last year, only to sign a new two-year deal with Mercedes last August.
However, that deal has a break clause after the 2024 campaign, and Hamilton will now partner Charles Leclerc for the 2025 season.
He said: “I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I’m so proud of what we have achieved together. Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old. It’s a place where I have grown up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. But the time is right for me to take this step and I’m excited to be taking on a new challenge.
“I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family, especially Toto [Wolff] for his friendship and leadership and I want to finish on a high together. I am 100% committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my last year with the Silver Arrows, one to remember.”
Mercedes team principal and CEO Wolff added: “In terms of a team-driver pairing, our relationship with Lewis has become the most successful the sport has seen, and that’s something we can look back on with pride; Lewis will always be an important part of Mercedes motorsport history.
“However, we knew our partnership would come to a natural end at some point, and that day has now come. We accept Lewis’s decision to seek a fresh challenge, and our opportunities for the future are exciting to contemplate. But for now, we still have one season to go, and we are focused on going racing to deliver a strong 2024.”
Team Statement
Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract. pic.twitter.com/moEMqUgzXH
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) February 1, 2024
Hamilton will take the seat currently held by Carlos Sainz, whose deal with the team expires at the end of the upcoming 2024 season.
Sainz said this evening: “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.”
Ferrari were edged out by Mercedes for second place in the constructors’ standings in a disappointing 2023 season, with Leclerc placing fifth in the drivers’ championship and Sainz languishing in seventh.
