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, the seven-time world champion, British driver, will join its ranks from 2025, after the expiration of the current contract with Mercedes, on a contract of “several seasons”.
“The time has come for me to take this step and I am excited to take on this new challenge”reacted the 39-year-old Hamilton, citing a statement 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 principal) for his friendship and leadership, I want us to finish strong.”added the native of Stevenage, north of London.
At the age of 40 when he arrives at the Scuderia, he will become a teammate of Charles Leclerc by taking over the wheel from Carlos Sainz Jr., who arrived at the Italian team in 2021. Spanish pilot immediately announced his departure at the end of the 2024 season, stating that his future team will 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 the clause allows him to leave Mercedes, with whom he has won six of his seven Formula 1 titles since 2013. The Arrows have made 82 of their 103 wins and achieved 93 of his 104 career pole positions. But he did not stand on the top step of the podium at the Grand Prix of December 5, 2021 in Saudi Arabia.
The legend of the British paddock will once again team up with Frédéric Vasseur, the boss of the Ferrari team, with whom he already collaborated in 2006, when he participated in his only season in Formula 2 with the ART Grand Prix. Ferrari’s star rookie replaces Carlos Sainz Jr, whose contract expires at the end of this 2024 season, which starts in Bahrain on Sunday, March 3. He will play alongside Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who has just been extended. Ferrari will thus become the third team of his career, launched in 2007 at McLaren, then alongside two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.