Lewis Hamilton might be on his way to Ferrari very shortly and Alex Albon could end up being the driver that benefits the most from the switch.
Ferrari may have just pulled off one of the biggest moves in Formula 1 history by hiring the seven-time world champion ahead of the 2025 season.
Speaking on Sky Sports News, Craig Slater has been providing F1 fans with all the information he’s heard from his sources.
It wasn’t long ago that some journalists were admitting that the chances of Lewis Hamilton ever joining Ferrari looked slim.
The 39-year-old was signed up to a contract that ended in 2025 and Ferrari had just handed Charles Leclerc a long-term deal.
However, there was plenty of speculation about whether Carlos Sainz would be retained by the team.
He was the only driver to end Red Bull’s dominance last season, but his deal was less of a priority to the Italian team this year as shown by the early announcement of Leclerc’s contract.
The man who could be ready to step up if and when Lewis Hamilton joins Ferrari in 2025 is Alex Albon.
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The 27-year-old was phenomenal for Williams last season and is about to enter the final year of his contract.
His ears would have pricked up as soon as he heard the news that Hamilton might be moving on.
Could he be one more strong campaign away from a drive in one of the best cars on the grid?
Albon suggested as Hamilton replacement ahead of Ferrari move
Speaking about the future of the second seat at Mercedes, Slater said: “Hard to see who Mercedes promote, probably good news this for George Russell, he’ll become number one within the team.
“I mean it’s young Frederik Vesti is their junior driver, he’s not ready for Formula 1.
“They’ve got Mick Schumacher as their reserve driver who didn’t have a great start to his F1 career, might he be a stop-gap?
“Alex Albon to me would be the kind of heavyweight signing for Mercedes to replace Hamilton with.
“He’s at Williams who are bossed by James Vowles who was Mercedes’s chief strategist, there are links there.”
He added: “Alex Albon would be the name I think that is right now the favourite to step into Hamilton’s shoes.”
Albon is a fantastic driver but no one on the grid could live up to Lewis Hamilton, making his move to Ferrari a big loss for Mercedes.
It puts them on the back-foot heading into 2024, especially when two drivers who would be ideal replacements – Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris – have just signed new deals.
The action on track doesn’t kick off for another month, but the next few weeks could arguably be more important for all ten manufacturers’ futures.
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