How long does Lewis stay with Mercedes?
Following winless campaigns in 2022 and 2023, he took his record-breaking ninth British Grand Prix victory in 2024, his twelfth and final season with Mercedes. Hamilton signed for Ferrari in 2025, and is contracted to remain in the team until at least the end of 2026. Hamilton reportedly left Mercedes for Ferrari because the latter offered him a longer contract and more money. Furthermore, he had been in a losing slump—with no wins in 2022 or 2023—and hoped to revive his career on the new team.Lewis Hamilton – 105 wins. In terms of career wins and total career points, Lewis Hamilton is the best Formula 1 driver to have ever graced a circuit.After 12 years, 246 races, 84 victories (85 if he can pull off one last miracle) and six drivers’ championships, Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes to join Ferrari in 2025.Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes The most successful driver-team partnership of all-time in F1 has had its last dance with Lewis Hamilton’s 12th and final season at Mercedes. Since 2013, the F1 record-books have undergone a major re-write with most of Michael Schumacher’s records falling to Hamilton.Hamilton’s move away from Mercedes ended the most successful driver-team pairing in F1 history — six world titles and 84 race wins. When asked if Hamilton might have lost that magic since switching to Ferrari, Wolff replied: I think we saw that magic in the Sprint Race – was it Shanghai?
Did Hamilton say goodbye to Mercedes after Qatar GP?
Hamilton vows to ‘get back up’ and give Mercedes farewell ‘best shot’ after extremely difficult Qatar race. Lewis Hamilton says he will “get back up and give it another shot next week” in the aftermath of a troublesome weekend for the Mercedes driver in Qatar. McLaren’s Lando Norris suggested that Lewis Hamilton winning races should be no surprise to anyone due to his Mercedes car, but has since retracted his comments and issued an apology to his fellow Brit.Hamilton – ‘worst that it’s felt’ as he finishes 13th Toto Wolff apologised to Lewis Hamilton for an ‘undrivable’ Mercedes and admitted the team ‘are not good enough’ for the former world champion.Behind the scenes, there was something else going on. Lewis Hamilton was convinced that the move to Mercedes would benefit his career more than sticking out at McLaren, who at that time started to struggle with their car development.It was the talks over that new Mercedes deal that led to the Ferrari move. Mercedes wanted to offer Hamilton only a one-year contract – team boss Toto Wolff was planning for the future. The seven-time world champion knew he wanted to stay in F1 longer.
Why is Lewis Hamilton moving from Mercedes to Ferrari?
The reason is simple. Lewis resigned from Merc because he didn’t know the correct order of sponsors and owners of his team name. So he chose Ferrari. The 29-year-old lost his Ferrari seat because the team signed Leclerc on a new, long-term contract last winter and then grabbed Lewis Hamilton after he made it clear he was open to leaving Mercedes, just months after signing a new contract with them.He wanted to have another chapter in his career that was about Ferrari, and it’s a great challenge for him. As well as driving, he is still making an impact on the sport and diversity within the sport. He has more he wants to do there, and it’s far easier for him to do that from the driving seat.
How much did Ferrari pay Hamilton?
Hamilton approached Ferrari and the team were keen to do a deal. So when they offered him a longer contract – at least to the end of 2026 – and a close to 50% pay rise to a reputed salary of 65m euros (£55m), it was a no-brainer. Sources say Hamilton wanted three years, Mercedes wanted to offer him just one year. A compromise was a one-year deal with an option to extend. So when Ferrari came calling with a multi-year contract with more commitment than Mercedes delivered, that was very attractive.Hamilton signed with Ferrari in January 2024, just over six months after sealing a new contract with Mercedes. It was the talks over that new Mercedes deal that led to the Ferrari move. Mercedes wanted to offer Hamilton only a one-year contract – team boss Toto Wolff was planning for the future.While Mercedes had not planned for Hamilton to leave at the end of 2024, it had pushed to structure the deal as a one-plus-one.Regarding his decision to leave Mercedes, Hamilton told Gregory that it was a matter of not sitting still, and tackling another series of “firsts” in his career. You can’t stand still for too long. I needed to throw myself into something uncomfortable again,” said Hamilton.
Why didn’t Hamilton stay at Mercedes?
Lewis wanted to continue with Mercedes, it was Mercedes that let him down ultimately. He knows the end of his career is near, he wanted a year with the choice of extending it, as well as an ambassador role for the team when he retires. Regarding his decision to leave Mercedes, Hamilton told Gregory that it was a matter of not sitting still, and tackling another series of “firsts” in his career. You can’t stand still for too long. I needed to throw myself into something uncomfortable again,” said Hamilton.