Lewis Hamilton is set to make an audacious move to Scuderia Ferrari as the racing icon sets up an all-star Scuderia lineup for the 2025 F1 season, joining Charles Leclerc.
Scuderia Ferrari officially announced the multi-year deal with Hamilton Thursday night. The Italian racing outfit, who have been chasing the signature of the British champion for quite some time, was finally able to get Hamilton on board with their apparent plan for the future. Hamilton spoke on the move, saying, “Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old. It’s a place where I have grown up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make.”
Ferrari believes that they are on a solid development path for both the car and the team.
They are currently looking ahead to 2026 when new regulations will be introduced to the racing series. The Scuderia is confident that its upcoming 2026 power unit, exclusively run on 100% sustainable fuel, is poised to outshine competitors and claim the top position in its class. It seems as if Hamilton agrees, finally signing the dotted line to drive for The Prancing Horse.
A Massive Shakeup
Over half of the Formula One grid is set to be out of contract at the end of the 2024 season. Still, it is Lewis Hamilton, originally contracted with Mercedes AMG Petronas through the 2025 season, who makes the astonishing first move in the 2025 driver market. Although the British racing deity penned a two-year extension with Mercedes just the season prior, it is understood that this deal afforded Hamilton the eligibility to leave at the end of the 2024 season, paving the way for this bold switch.
Although the move may seem chaotic to many, Hamilton has a former history with the now-team principal of the Italian racing outfit, Frédéric Vasseur. Vasseur and Hamilton worked together previously in the Formula 3 Euroseries championship, with Mercedes-Benz and Hamilton partnering with Vasseur’s ASM team from 2004 until 2007. Upon getting the Ferrari job prior to the start of the 2023 F1 season, Vasseur’s appointment sparked early rumors of a possible Hamilton-Ferrari partnership. While many stories circulated, these whispers were all shut down, with Hamilton singing the two-year extension deal he would eventually leave behind.
This seat change indicates massive opportunities for Ferrari as well. Lewis Hamilton himself is a larger brand than most teams within the sport. Over his decade-long stretch racing for the Silver Arrows, Hamilton has won a record 103 races and achieved an astonishing 104 pole positions in qualifying. While racing in the Merc livery, the now 39-year-old has seen the Mercedes F1 team increase its original £315 million ($400 million) valuation to a whopping £2.13 billion ($2.7 billion) valuation. With a market cap of £52 billion ($66 billion), Ferrari has seen its stock jump almost 9% just today, giving the Hamilton news a value of around £4.7 billion ($6 billion) for the Scuderia.
What does this tremendous move mean for the rest of the F1 grid?
The 2025 drivers market has been flipped on its head once again. With so many seats up for grabs, it will be very interesting to see how both the displaced Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, and the behemoth manufacturer, Mercedes, deal with their separate situations. As a staple in the racing series itself, Sainz should be able to find a new home quickly among the teams on the grid. Mercedes, however, will have to grapple with the idea of finding a driver to fill the titan-sized hole that Hamilton will leave in his wake.
Along with those two power players in F1, it will be interesting to see what actions the other title-contending teams will take in an attempt to combat the now immense 2025 Ferrari lineup of star-boy Charles Leclerc and iconic veteran Lewis Hamilton.