Lewis Hamilton has signed himself up for a daunting new challenge once he leaves Mercedes.
Martin Brundle thinks Lewis Hamilton won’t be able to take a few engineers from Mercedes to Ferrari the following year because of non-compete agreements in his contracts. In 2025, Hamilton might want to travel with the company of people he knows before venturing out into new territory with the Scuderia.
When Hamilton switched from McLaren to Mercedes in 2013, he was still relatively inexperienced. With over ten years of experience, six additional Drivers’ Championships, and a growing age, the British driver is getting ready to start anew.
Charles Leclerc and Hamilton will be partnered starting in the upcoming year thanks to a multi-year contract agreement with Ferrari. However, Brundle says there might be a teething issue or two, so it might not be easy to bring a group of Silver Arrows engineers along.
Brundle said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, “It’s hard because I don’t think [Hamilton] will speak the language, he certainly won’t know the team like Charles does.”
Because of this, I believe Lewis will try to bring along a few people, but he won’t be able to because of non-compete agreements. To get off to a quick start, you really want to bring along some of your own gang.
However, I believe he’ll be treated with such respect there that they would immediately swap the back wheels for the front if Lewis asked for them to be put on. He might pull a Michael Schumacher and make them world champions once more.
Alternatively, he could pull a Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso, where a near-miss occurred. Lewis will need to go and integrate himself if he truly hopes to start quickly on a new team.”
In his last season at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz will be eager to ensure that Hamilton has a difficult act to follow. Aside from Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez of Red Bull, the Spaniard was the only driver to win a Grand Prix in 2023.
However, that was insufficient to deter team principal Fred Vasseur from seizing Hamilton’s signing opportunity. Because of the seven-time world champion’s enormous commercial value, Ferrari’s share price surged following his shocking announcement.
With a multi-year contract, Hamilton will compete in races well into his forties in an attempt to win the coveted eighth Drivers’ Championship, which would move him up to the top of the all-time rankings above Schumacher.
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