Lewis Hamilton’s sensational move to Ferrari in 2025 has been confirmed with the British driver releasing a heartfelt message thanking Mercedes after his move for more than a decade.
Reports emerged of the seven-time world champion’s impending move on Thursday morning, with Hamilton set to finish this year at Mercedes before making the jump to his new side.
The news confirms Mail Sport’s world exclusive from last May that Ferrari was in talks with Hamilton and preparing to offer him a £40m bailout for joining.
In what is being seen as the biggest move in the sport since Hamilton swapped McLaren for Mercedes in 2013, the 39-year-old will launch a final bid to win his eighth world title, leaving him far behind Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher.
Ferrari confirmed the news on Thursday afternoon, with Hamilton, who will say goodbye to his £50m-a-year contract with Mercedes, partnered with Charles Leclerc having signed a “multi-year contract”, also ending the Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari. career.
Lewis Hamilton will drive for Ferrari from 2025 in an explosive move, it has been confirmed
The move ends his 13-year stay at Mercedes, where he has won six world titles.
Hamilton will drive alongside Charles Leclerc (left), who previously said Hamilton would be an ideal teammate.
Ferrari said in a statement on social media: “Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will join the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract.”
Hamilton currently earns £50m a year at Mercedes, where he has won six of his seven world championships and previously expressed his desire to remain in the sport for the rest of his time.
But the car has struggled in recent years, and Hamilton has not won a race since controversially losing the world title to Max Verstappen on the final lap of the final race of the 2021 season.
Mercedes confirmed that Hamilton has activated a termination option in his contract, which was signed last year.
Team boss Toto Wolff recently said the team’s latest version “feels like a car for the first time in two years”, but their supposed improvements have come too little, too late, and they will lose their key man next. of this year.
Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz in the team, who will leave four years after arriving from McLaren.
The news was confirmed in a statement posted by Mercedes on the company’s website on Wednesday evening.
Ferrari also revealed the news on social media on Wednesday, revealing that Hamilton had signed a “multi-year” contract.
Hamilton’s move will also see him reunite with his old friend Fred Vasseur, who is the new Ferrari team boss.
The 55-year-old has a special bond with Hamilton, so it will come as no surprise that the Brit is keen to work with the Frenchman again.
Hamilton won Formula Three and GP2 (now Formula Two) championships with Vasseur’s ART team in 2005 and 2006 before making a spectacular Formula One debut with McLaren in 2007.
“I talk to him at every GP, he raced for me 20 years ago and we are still close,” Vasseur, who joined Ferrari in January 2023, told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport last season.
“Clearly, if (the media) sees us together in the paddock, there is a lot of fuss, but the relationship remains.”
Hamilton won six of his seven world titles with Mercedes and had expressed his desire to end his career with the team.
His partnership with Leclerc has raised excitement levels for the move, with the Monaco-born driver previously saying Hamilton would be the ideal teammate.
Leclerc, considered a future world champion, is 13 years Hamilton’s junior and has won five races in his career, achieving 30 podiums and 15 pole positions in that time.
Hamilton, meanwhile, has won 103 races in his 332-career career, resulting in seven world titles, the most alongside Schumacher.
He came closest to winning his eighth title in 2021, leading on the final lap of the final race before being passed, but eventual champion and archrival Max Verstappen missed out on the championship.
However, the switch to Ferrari will present a new opportunity to move away from Schumacher at the top of the standings, with Ferrari seemingly further down the line when it comes to competing with Red Bull.
Hamilton said of his departure: “I have spent an incredible 11 years with this team and I am very proud of what we have achieved together.” Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old. It’s a place where I grew up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. But the time is right to take this step and I am excited to take on a new challenge.
“I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family, especially Toto for his friendship and leadership, and I want to finish well together.” “I am 100% committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my final year with the Silver Arrows one to remember.”
Hamilton said he will be “forever grateful” for his time at Mercedes but admitted “the time is right” to move on.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff added that he knew “our partnership would come to a natural end at some point.”
Team principal Toto Wolff added: “In terms of driver pairing and team, our relationship with Lewis has become the most successful the sport has ever seen, and that is something we can look back on with pride; Lewis will always be an important part of Mercedes motorsport history. However, we knew that our partnership would come to its natural end at some point, and that day has arrived.
‘We accept Lewis’ decision to seek a new challenge and it is exciting to look at our opportunities for the future. But for now, we still have one season left and we are focused on competing for a strong 2024.”
Sainz revealed that he will leave the team at the end of 2024 following the news.
“Following today’s news, Scuderia Ferrari and I will part ways at the end of 2024,” he said in a statement.
“We still have a long season ahead of us and, as always, I will do my best for the team and for tifosi around the world.
“News regarding my future will be announced in due time.”
Sainz revealed that he will leave the team at the end of the year, and the announcement about his future will be made “in due time”
Ferrari has been a long-time admirer of Hamilton and held talks with him about joining the team in May last year.
Meanwhile, F1 experts have given a more reflective view of the big news.
Martin Brundle said: ‘I’m really looking forward to this. We’ve asked him about it for years and he seemed stuck at Merc for life and always dismissive of the move. Hamilton and Leclerc dressed in scarlet, that’s a story.
David Croft added: ‘Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari! I always thought it would happen one day, it will finally happen and it looks like it will be in 2025.
“A seismic movement as it was when Lewis joined Mercedes and as then I don’t see the negative aspects.” But wow, definitely the biggest transfer on transfer deadline day!’
Former driver Karun Chandhok explained that the romance of one last world title with Ferrari was too good to turn down.
“I was trying to understand ‘Where is the logic in a Ferrari move?’ Maybe there isn’t any…Lewis has more money than he could ever spend, he hasn’t won a race in over 2 years and maybe his heart I wanted a new challenge.
‘Winning an eighth title with a Ferrari would be an incredible legacy!’