The Briton will leave Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season after 12 years of loyal service and six world championship titles. With what consequences for Ferrari and Formula 1?
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The winter transfer window on the football side ends Thursday February 1, that of Formula 1 has just opened, to everyone’s surprise, with a major client. Scuderia Ferrari has formalized the arrival, from the 2025 season, of Lewis Hamilton, six times world champion with Mercedes.
This movement – unexpected – opens the way to many questions for the Briton, who has never stopped repeating that Mercedes was his “dream team”, for Ferrari, but also for the entire paddock. For franceinfo: sport, Jean Alesi, former Scuderia driver in the 201 Grands Prix contested, takes stock of the questions.
Why leave now?
The timing of this announcement may seem surprising, Hamilton being under contract with Mercedes until the end of the 2025 season, but a clause allowed him to break it. The Briton is coming out of two complicated seasons marked by the omnipotence of Max Verstappen and Red Bull, but also the difficulties of his car, the W14, whose problems no one could define.
“I had high hopes for this season. I’m sure there were frustrations because I asked for a number of changes and they weren’t made. (…) Nobody knew exactly what the problem was. Nobody knew how to fix it.”he noted to the BBC in December 2023.
The departure of Mike Elliott, technical director, architect of the last two – bad – Hamilton cars, and the return of James Allison, were not enough to make him stay. Tired, Lewis Hamilton is above all looking for a final challenge at 39 years old, says for franceinfo: sport Jean Alesi, former Scuderia driver (1991-1995): “I believe that Lewis has nothing more to prove, especially at Mercedes where he was multiple world champion. Having different challenges is important. He had to have guarantees from the team on technical investments to have a suitable car.”
Who will be the number 1 driver at Ferrari?
If Ferrari was able to sign Lewis Hamilton, it was because it had not offered an extension to Carlos Sainz Jr, who announced, in the wake of the announcement of Hamilton’s arrival, his departure at the end of the 2024 season. On the other hand, Charles Leclerc announced his extension “for several years” on January 25. How will the two drivers coexist? How will the Scuderia orient its strategy?
“Lewis is someone who knows how to unite. It fits into the Ferrari panorama. They need someone to take these steps forward.”
Jean Alesi, former Ferrari driverat franceinfo: sport
“Sstrategically speaking, Ferrari made a good movesays Jean Alesi. I think there won’t really be a first or second pilot. When we have orders, it’s because pilots have taken the lead. But it mostly happens at the end of the championship.“
Last May, Charles Leclerc – who has not won a race in 2023 – spoke of a possible duo with Lewis Hamilton on Canal+: “Lewis is an incredible driver. He has accomplished so much in this sport. Anyone on the grid would want to have Lewis as a teammate. Anyone would learn a lot from him.”
A new association whose hierarchy could emerge following the racing scenarios, but where each driver will be able to contribute to the other, and in particular the Briton, thirteen years older. “Leclerc has everything to gainagrees Alesi. It will overshadow him, especially on the media level, but he will bring a very particular way of working, he is someone special.”
What can Lewis Hamilton bring them?
His own way of working, guarantees for the Scuderia engineers… The arrival of Lewis Hamilton in the prancing horse team goes further than trophies or Charles Leclerc. Over the past three years, Ferrari has struggled mechanically with its cars, but also strategically to beat Red Bull. “Ferrari scared a lot of engineers with a big turnoverconcedes Jean Alesi. Hamilton will bring credibility, technicians will follow him, he will build a team around him which will become competitive.”
The minimum to try to compete with Red Bull and Max Verstappen? “Red Bull teams have worked together for over ten years, they know exactly what to doadmits Alesi. To beat this well-established machine, you need men like Lewis.“
What influence on the rest of the pilots?
There will be no bigger surprise than Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari. But this is only the first movement in a long series to come in the coming months. Thirteen of the twenty drivers in the paddock are at the end of their contract in 2024, including Carlos Sainz, who has not yet revealed his new team. This silly seasonwhich usually begins when the sunny days return, promises to be hectic.
Mercedes will have to find a replacement for Lewis Hamilton to support George Russell. The Sauber team, which will become Audi in 2026, has big ambitions. “This departure will launch a slightly crazy transfer window, Alesi admits. Hamilton started a game of musical chairs. There isThe team that is setting itself up very strongly is Audi. They will go for seeded players.“Why not Carlos Sainz, then Esteban Ocon, at the end of his contract with Alpine? Alexander Albon, he showed great things with Williams, and could claim the second seat at Mercedes after failing at Red Bull in 2019.