Lewis Hamilton’s fame will not be as untouchable because it was in 2020, when he claimed his record-equalling seventh world championship, but Scuderia Ferrari’s choice to drop Carlos Sainz on the finish of the 2024 Method 1 marketing campaign in favor of him speaks volumes.
Carlos Sainz, coming into the ultimate 12 months of his contract, would sometimes have been a secure guess to retain his seat. He had confirmed himself a a number of race-winner able to beating Charles Leclerc on his finest days and constantly staying aggressive.
Nevertheless, this wasn’t a typical scenario. The game’s most embellished driver, Lewis Hamilton, had turn into obtainable. His choice to go away Mercedes appeared to stem from a need for a contemporary problem and a career-long dream of racing for Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton had been promised by Mercedes that the ground-effect period would deliver championship-contending automobiles, however these assurances did not materialize, seemingly eroding his belief within the staff’s future course.
Different choices for Lewis Hamilton have been restricted. Whereas Crimson Bull had a emptiness alongside Sergio Perez, pairing him with Max Verstappen was virtually unthinkable after their fierce 2021 rivalry. Equally, McLaren, contemporary off their Constructors’ Championship triumph, was firmly dedicated to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
This left Ferrari as the one viable different. Hamilton had harbored aspirations of driving for the long-lasting Scuderia since 2004, and at 39 years previous, each he and the staff have been lastly able to make it a actuality.
Hamilton’s Ferrari Transfer Not Surprising, Says Former Mercedes Colleague
Mercedes race staff coordinator Stephen Lord, talking on the *Past the Grid* podcast, revealed he wasn’t shocked by Lewis Hamilton’s transfer to Ferrari. Lord recalled a dialog from years earlier through which Hamilton admitted that each driver understands the attract of driving for the legendary crimson staff.
Lewis Hamilton’s transfer mirrors the journeys of rivals like Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, who additionally left championship-winning groups to chase glory with Ferrari. For Hamilton, this transition represents an opportunity to satisfy an unfulfilled ambition.
But Stephen Lord had as soon as envisioned a unique path for Hamilton, believing the British driver would possibly sooner or later return to McLaren. With McLaren ending a 26-year await a Constructors’ Championship, the prospect appeared believable. Nevertheless, staff boss Zak Brown stays steadfast in his dedication to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, making the Ferrari change of the seven-time Method 1 world champion essentially the most sensible selection.
“I feel that’s been his plan all alongside [joining Ferrari],” Lord mentioned. “Just a few years in the past, it got here up in dialog. I really at all times thought he may be tempted again to McLaren, however I used to be fully incorrect. He at all times mentioned that he felt most drivers had a need to, in some unspecified time in the future of their profession, drive for Ferrari. I wasn’t shocked in any respect. We are able to see via the historical past of the game there’s a need amongst nice drivers to go to Ferrari and win world championships there.” – Stephen Lord identified – “Fernando did it, Seb did it. I feel that may at all times stay. They’re the oldest, most recognisable staff within the pit lane. The historical past and the esteem that that market’s held in, I feel it’s inevitable that individuals would need to go there.” – he continued.
Lewis Hamilton Displays on Leaving McLaren and the Chance of Returning
Lewis Hamilton’s Method 1 journey started with McLaren, the place he rose via the ranks of their driver academy to clinch his first World Championship in 2008. He spent six years with the Woking-based staff, 4 of them as a Method 1 driver, earlier than making a shock change to Mercedes in 2013—a call that may in the end redefine his profession.
Wanting again, the British driver expressed remorse over the way in which he dealt with his departure from McLaren, admitting he prevented delivering the information in individual. He later vowed to appropriate this method when leaving any future groups, guaranteeing open and direct communication.
Regardless of the awkward exit, Hamilton has maintained a constructive relationship along with his former staff. He publicly congratulated McLaren on their current Constructors’ Championship win in Abu Dhabi, demonstrating a continued respect for the staff that launched his profession.
In an interview shortly after leaving McLaren in 2012, Lewis Hamilton was requested in regards to the prospect of returning sooner or later. His response was characteristically open-ended: “By no means say by no means.” Whereas he acknowledged McLaren as his “dwelling” in Method 1 and admitted {that a} reunion could be “good,” such a situation now seems more and more inconceivable given the evolution of each his profession and the staff’s course.
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