Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton could make a surprise move from Mercedes to Ferrari next year, according to a report on Thursday.
Sky Sports News reported that Hamilton will leave Mercedes after the 2024 season and join Ferrari to replace Carlos Sainz Jr. No mention was made of the source.
The Daily Mail also reported that a deal would be finalized, while Motorsport.com reported that a deal had not yet been finalized but that negotiations were at an advanced stage and could be finalized this week.
Mercedes and Ferrari declined to comment on whether Hamilton would join Ferrari when contacted by the Associated Press.
The move will surprise many F1 observers as the 39-year-old British driver has signed his next contract. new 2 year contract He was under contract from last summer until 2025, but it remains unclear whether his contract included a release clause.
Hamilton won six titles with Mercedes in seven years from 2014 to 2020, but lost the 2021 championship to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on the final lap of the final race.
He hasn’t won a race since 2021 and is stuck on a record of 103 wins.
Given that Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc recently signed a multi-year deal, he is likely to replace Sainz if he joins Ferrari. contract extension.
Five years ago, Hamilton was asked if he would ever want to drive for Ferrari.
“If you decide you want a change somewhere in your life, that can be an option,” he said at the time.
In late 2019, Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Hamilton had met twice with Ferrari chairman John Elkann that year, regarding the possibility of Hamilton replacing Ferrari’s then-driver Sebastian Vettel. It was reported that they had talked.
Hamilton was then asked if he had met Elkann at that year’s final race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“Of course, anything that happens behind closed doors is always a secret, no matter who you’re with,” Hamilton said. “For many years I never sat down and thought about other options, because we (Mercedes) have been driving straight down the same path. There is little I would change.”
Hamilton joined Mercedes from McLaren in 2013, another surprise move at the time.
Hamilton and Mercedes, who had an overwhelming record until 2020, suffered setbacks in the past two seasons. Mercedes only won one race in 2022, which was hit by a bouncing phenomenon known in F1 as a porpoise. The team admitted they had made a design mistake.
F1 pre-season testing begins in Bahrain on February 21st. Bahrain will host the first of a record 24 races on March 2nd, when Verstappen begins his bid to win a fourth consecutive world championship.
