The seven-time world champion British driver will join the Italian team at the end of his contract with Mercedes, which runs until 2025, the Scuderia announced on Thursday.
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The transfer market in Formula 1 is experiencing its first madness. The Italian team Ferrari announced on Thursday February 1 that Lewis Hamilton, seven-time world champion British driver, will join its ranks from 2025, at the end of his current contract with Mercedes, for a contract of “several seasons”.
“The time has come for me to take this step and I am excited to take on a new challenge”reacted Hamilton, 39, quoted in the press release from the Mercedes team, with which he has been under contract since 2013.I will always be grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family, especially Toto (Wolff, team boss) for his friendship and leadership, I want us to finish strong.”added the native of Stevenage, north of London.
Aged 40 when he arrives at the Scuderia, he will become Charles Leclerc’s teammate by taking the wheel of Carlos Sainz Jr, who arrived in 2021 in the Italian team. The Spanish pilot immediately announced his departure at the end of the 2024 season, specifying that his future team would be announced “on time”.
Lewis Hamilton extended his contract with the German team last August, extending it until the end of the 2025 season. But a clause allows him to leave Mercedes, with whom he has won six of his seven Formula titles. 1 since 2013. With the Silver Arrows, he has accounted for 82 of his 103 victories and achieved 93 of his 104 career pole positions. But he has not stood on the highest step of the podium in a Grand Prix since December 5, 2021, in Saudi Arabia.
The British paddock legend will reunite with Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari team principal, with whom he had already worked in 2006, when he participated in his only season in Formula 2 with ART Grand Prix. Ferrari’s star recruit replaces Carlos Sainz Jr, whose contract ends at the end of this 2024 season which will begin in Bahrain on Sunday March 3. He will play alongside Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who has just been extended. Ferrari will therefore become the third team of his career launched in 2007 at McLaren, then alongside double world champion Fernando Alonso.