Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle and Jenson Button give their thoughts on Lewis Hamilton's shock move to Ferrari for 2025 and what it means for F1; Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz next year on a multi-year deal to become Charles Leclerc's new team-mate
Saturday 2 March 2024 19:08, UK
Martin Brundle believes Lewis Hamilton's surprise move to Ferrari for the 2025 F1 season could be "Schumacher-esque".
Hamilton will leave Mercedes at the end of the upcoming season and replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, F1's most famous and iconic team, in an unexpected move which is as stunning as it is seismic.
The seven-time world champion, who is statistically the most successful driver in F1 history with 103 wins and 104 pole positions, will be team-mates with Charles Leclerc.
"We've talked to him about it for years, interviews [along the lines of] 'wouldn't you fancy doing a Michael Schumacher and joining Ferrari to make them champions?'," Brundle told Sky Sports News.
"He's always said 'I've been with Mercedes, even when I was at McLaren I had Mercedes engines, they're my team and my manufacturer for life'.
"What a story - Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari."
Hamilton made his F1 debut with McLaren in 2007, winning his first world title in just his second campaign. He joined Mercedes in 2013 and has won six championships with the team in the most dominant team-driver combination in the sport's history.
The 39-year-old hasn't won a race for over two years though, since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in December 2021.
Ferrari though have only won one drivers' title, with Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, since the end of Michael Schumacher's period of domination when he won five consecutive championships at the start of the century.
Schumacher, who joined Ferrari from Benetton in 1996, eventually became their first champion for 21 years.
"Never write off Lewis Hamilton," said Brundle.
"He knows how to win races and championships, and it'll be very Schumacher-esque if he can go there and really drive the team to start winning a lot more races and be championship contenders."
Brundle is also excited by the prospect of Hamilton teaming up with Leclerc.
"Leclerc, I think, is potentially, on an outright qualifying lap the fastest driver out there at the moment - even including Max Verstappen," said Brundle.
"He's blindingly fast, but tends to run into a few things he shouldn't ought to because he drives so near the limit - but it's a wonderful combination.
"Let's not disregard what a great driver Sainz is as well, who is in the Ferrari for the coming season, and presumably has a chance to go to Mercedes or some other teams on the grid."
Although wholly unexpected, Brundle thinks the announcement will energise both Mercedes and Ferrari, as well as Hamilton.
"He's had a couple of years of not winning a race and we've seen a couple of other changes he's made, bringing Marc Hynes back, who was his long-time mentor and eyes and ears in the paddock," continued Brundle.
"I think he's probably gone 'I'm going to stop focusing on all of the things outside of racing and get back to Lewis Hamilton the racing driver'.
"I think this is a wonderful opportunity to motivate him and energise him for this phase of his career."
Leclerc has been at Ferrari since 2019 and Hamilton will be his third team-mate at the Scuderia, having partnered Sebastian Vettel for two seasons and Sainz since 2021.
Jenson Button spent three years as Hamilton's team-mate at McLaren and was surprised by the news on Thursday.
"This is massive for the sport. If Lewis stayed at Mercedes, if they won races it would have been good, but having this shift to Ferrari is massive," Button told Sky Sports F1.
"It is going to be great for the sport, everybody is going to have their eyes on Formula 1, especially Ferrari and Lewis.
"Also, how he does up against Charles Leclerc who has the contract so I am guessing he is going to be the one alongside Lewis for Ferrari.
"It is a big deal making this change in your career when you have been with one team for so long. Suddenly jumping to somebody else's team, it is tough. Fair play to Lewis, it is a toughy."
It's rare for a driver to announce a change of team for the following year, before a new season has happened.
Fernando Alonso's move to McLaren for 2007 was announced in December 2005 after he won his first world title with Renault.
The Spaniard went on to win a second championship with Renault in 2006, despite knowing he was leaving the team.
Reflecting on the timing of Hamilton's departure, Button explained: "I think obviously 12 years at Mercedes is longer than most people spend in Formula 1. So, to spend it with one team and achieve what they have, maybe he wanted something different, to spice it up a bit.
"We all get to that point in our career where we are like, I have done what I set out to achieve and choose to retire. He has gone the other route and gone you know what, I feel like I need a change, I am going to go to Ferrari.
"It is a big deal and I cannot wait to see how he goes in a Ferrari. The weird thing is it is quite an early call though, to mention it this early on.
"It is a year before he is stepping into the Ferrari so how is that atmosphere going to be at Mercedes? It is not easy. What do they hold back from Lewis? He knows the ins and outs of this team very well anyway and when it gets down to the nitty gritty, are there certain things they are going to hold back from Lewis? Possibly."
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