Lewis Hamilton will drive for Ferrari in 2025! I repeat, seven-time World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, will drive for Ferrari next year!

In my short time as an F1 fan I’ve come to expect absurd things happen around what everyone calls silly season, which is essentially just driver free agency. But oh man I was not expecting to see this when I looked at my phone this morning. I’m still having a tough time digesting the news. I’m hoping that writing about it will help me come to grips with the change but this is going to take some getting used to.

So let’s start with the most obvious question, why move to Ferrari? Lewis had unprecedented success with Mercedes and after joining the team in 2013 turned himself into the greatest F1 driver of all time. Why not ride off into the sunset with the team that helped changed your life. I think the answer is simple. Lewis wants, sorry needs, that eighth World Championship. I’m not sure if its Lewis’ competitive nature or the sting from Abu Dhabi 2021 but Hamilton is determined to get number 8. Based on everything I’ve seen Lewis seems to have a great deal of respect and love for Mercedes, especially Toto Wolf and his race engineer Peter “Bono” Bonnington. However, Lewis clearly knew Mercedes was not going to be able to deliver him his eighth championship so he had to look elsewhere.

The downfall clearly started in 2022 when Mercedes delivered him a shit car in the new regulation set. The past two years for Hamilton have been a nightmare. He hasn’t won a race in either season and never had a chance to even compete with Red Bull. This must have been weighing on him for sometime and he just knew he couldn’t end his career like this.

Enter Ferrari, as if you recall, they came out swinging in the new regulation set in 2022. They looked to be the best car on the grid until Red Bull figured out their reliability issues and dominated the back end of the season. Ferrari hasn’t looked the same since, but I would argue they’ve been the second best car on the grid with this regulation set and clearly have more pace than Mercedes. Lewis making this move obviously shows who he thinks has the best chance of competing with RedBull moving forward

I can only imagine how much of a disaster the 2024 Mercedes car is to prompt this move before the season even starts. Lewis must’ve tested the car, confirmed it was ass and probably called Frederic Vasseur from the cockpit.

Being an American sports fan I was trying to come up with a comparison for this type of move and its nearly impossible. Sure all time greats have left teams at the tail end of their careers, especially in football. Look at Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers or even Peyton Manning. All of those dudes spent the majority of their careers with one franchise only to move to another team in the twilight of their careers. For the most part these moves have typically work out with both Brady and Manning winning Super Bowls with their new teams. However this move is much different from all of those.

First of all, Lewis announced this before the start of the 2024 season. It would be one thing if he was retiring but he will be a lame duck all year with the team knowing he will be driving for their rivals next year. I can only imagine what life will be like for Lewis inside Mercedes this season. He’s earned the right to change teams but it will be awkward inside that garage all year. Also Lewis is going to Ferrari which is the Evil Empire of F1. They are the most decorated team in F1 history and I look at them as the Yankees, Cowboys or Lakers of F1. Can you imagine if Brady or Manning went to the Cowboys late in their careers because that is essentially what Lewis is doing. Which only adds to the shock of today’s news.

I kind of thought the 2025 silly season would be quiet with the top 4 teams, outside of RedBull, likely to keep their drivers lineups intact. Oh boy did that get thrown on its head today. Now I expect the driver movement to get a little absurd or as some would say silly. The first domino to fall will be who will be in the other Mercedes seat alongside George Russell in 2025. Personally, I think that seat is Albon’s to lose, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone like Fernando Alonso makes a huge push for that seat. This move also leaves Carlos Sainz without a home in 2025. Sainz is a young, consistent and talented driver, he will be on the grid in 2025. It’s just a question of which team, probably Stake 1 (can we just call them Audi or Sauber.) No idea how it will all shake out and I didn’t even mention the madness that is going to ensure at Red Bull and their sister team.

There’s a lot about this move that is clearly fascinating, but the top of that list has to be the future driver pairing at Ferrari. I, for one, can not wait to see Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton battle it out in the same machinery. Personally, I think Charles will dominate qualifying, while Lewis will have the better race pace and finishes. Either way it will be so awesome to watch. Thankfully Lewis and Charles seem to have a great deal of respect for each other, so I’m hopeful they can get on as teammates. I say that now, but I have a feeling things could get a little prickly if they’re in the middle of a title fight and start getting into on track battles. They are both ruthless, talented, STUD drivers and it’ll be an experience to watch them battle each weekend.

Lewis Hamilton will drive for Ferrari next season. Man, I still can’t believe it, this was truly one of the most surprising moves I’ve seen in any sport in quite sometime. I just wish we could get on with this next month because Lewis is not going to be a happy camper this season and it’s going to be brutal to watch. But it will all be worth it knowing the insanity that awaits us in 2025.