Lewis Hamilton to ferrari, say what?!
We will all remember the day — Feb. 1. The day that Lewis Hamilton announced that he would be leaving Mercedes, his team of over a decade and the team he won 6 of his 7 championships with, to move to the Scuderia Ferrari starting in the 2025 season. The internet was gagged. The internet was shaken. It was like a fire alarm went off, and no one knew what to do. If you were out for a run and are wondering what happened, here’s why the internet was on literal fire today:
Team Loyalty: Lewis Hamilton has been with Mercedes since 2013. That’s ELEVEN YEARS!! People thought he was going to retire from Mercedes. He literally talked up Mercedes when he extended his contract this year! Hamilton attributes a lot of his success over the past decade to his team at Mercedes, so people were so surprised to see him leave a team he seems to love so much.
Age: He’s the 2nd oldest driver on the grid at 39 years old. To a lot of people, Hamilton is near retirement time — people thought he was going to ride off into the sunset in a Mercedes (because there was no better option). However, I think Hamilton will pull a Fernando Alonso & keep driving into his forties. He deserves it! He’s an icon!!! I think he will keep driving until he’s not having fun anymore.
Championship Potential: He’s already won 7 championships; he was set to win in an 8th 2021 with Mercedes but it was denied by Redbull’s Max Verstappen and FIA’s Michael Masi. In the last two years, Ferrari has been the only team to offer any type of challenge to Red Bull’s championship dominance (but I’m rooting for you, Mclaren!!). If the new 2024 Mercedes car is bad, Ferrari is the only team that could maybe offer Hamilton a potential championship. If you’re new to F1, you might wonder “why does he just go to Red Bull if they are so dominant?” and that’s not a bad thought, but Red Bull & Hamilton are not a good match. Red Bull is dedicated to their star driver Max Verstappen and would make Lewis play second fiddle. Also, Helmut Marko says racist stuff sometimes, and ain’t no way Lewis will let that slide (nor should he).
Charles Leclerc: This move to Ferrari is also so interesting because Charles Leclerc is Ferrari’s golden boy and he just extended his contract. So Lewis is going to be going to a team where they already have a favorite driver. Will things change at Ferrari for Charles?? Will Ferrari have a preference for the 7x world champion? We’ll see what happens in 2025!!!
Name Recognition: A main reason people on the interwebs think that Hamilton is going to Ferrari is name recognition. Ferrari is the most successful team of all time. They are the oldest and have the most wins. Michael Schumacher, the GOAT of his era, won 5 of his championships with Ferrari. Some people think he’s going to Ferrari to get that last championship. Ferrari is an iconic team, and Lewis Hamilton is an iconic driver. Ferrari and Hamilton’s names both transcend the Formula 1 world. They are simply iconic in the sports world. Maybe they are a match made in heaven??
Did I forget something? Were you soooo shocked to see this move? Were you somehow unsurprised? Why do you think Hamilton is going to Ferrari? What do you think Charles & Carlos are thinking right now?? 👀
