In what is being described as one of the biggest ever Formula 1 switches, it has been confirmed that seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season and join huge rivals Ferrari, on a multi-year deal.

The new deal will see the British race ace go into the 2025 season with his new team, having gone past his 40th birthday. Nevertheless, many are predicting it could be just the motivation he requires to push for the record eighth championship.

He has appeared to go a little stale in recent times and has looked increasingly disheartened at the inability of his current team to provide him with a car capable of challenging Max Verstappen and Red Bull.

Hamilton only signed a new two-year deal with Mercedes last summer, but it is understood his contract contained a break clause after the first year and the pull of the oldest surviving and most successful Formula 1 team of all time, was too great and prompted the Brit to activate it.

The move represents a huge coup for Ferrari and also serves as massive vote of confidence for their new team principal Frederic Vasseur, who replaced Mattia Binotto at the start of last year, and had been given the task of turning the team around.

It is understood that Hamilton will partner Charles Leclerc when he joins, meaning that the new season due to begin in Bahrain in less than two weeks, will be the last year at Ferrari for Spaniard Carlos Sainz.

Many are forecasting that the impending move might actually fire Hamilton to find that bit extra for Mercedes and maybe pinch a race or two and add to his impressive record of 82 race wins for the team. Six of his seven championship victories have been achieved racing for his current employers and he is likely to be fully motivated to go out all guns blazing.

Change of heart

Lewis Hamilton ended the last campaign in third place, albeit 341 points behind the dominant Vesrstappen, who went on to claim his third consecutive drivers title.

He hasn’t won a race since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and although his Mercedes team battled with Ferrari last year for second spot behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship, there was no doubt that the Italians were the ones making the biggest strides.

That fact, coupled with the prospect of joining the racing team with the greatest prestige, history and mystique is what probably made Hamilton change his mind from his stance of saying he would remain with Mercedes for the rest of his F1 career.

Difficult decision

Speaking about his decision, the former champion said he is “so proud” of the success he’s achieved in his 11 years with the team. Going into more detail he continued: “They have been part of my life since I was 13 years old and I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family. It’s a place where I have grown up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest I have ever had to make.”

He added that he felt the time was right to take this step, but insisted that he wanted now to end on a high. He said he is 100% committed to delivering the best performance he can this coming season and making his last year with the Silver Arrows one to remember.

Boss pays tribute

Team principal Toto Wolff said the pairing of Mercedes and Hamilton “has become the most successful the sport has seen and that’s something we can look back on with pride.”

He went on to say: “We knew our partnership would come to a natural end at some point, and that day has now come, so we accept Lewis’s decision to seek a fresh challenge and our opportunities for the future are exciting to contemplate.”

Looking to right a wrong

It is unlikely that money came into any decision making, although Hamilton will undoubtedly have been able to command an astronomical fee. What he really wants more than anything is to be able to race on a level playing field and go for that eighth world title and he obviously has concluded that it is Ferrari who offer him the best opportunity to do so.

He also will be determined before he finishes driving, to avenge what he probably considers to be the injustice of Abu Dhabi 2021, when he had championship victory ripped from his grasp by the race director’s decision not to follow the rules correctly, during a late safety car period.

Still able to dream big

Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver in F1 history with 103 wins and 104 pole positions, with Michael Schumacher the only other driver to achieve seven world titles.

Were he to be able to complete his dream and lift the title with Ferrari, he would become the first driver to win championships with three different teams since Juan Manuel Fangio way back in 1957.