Lewis Hamilton will be competing against his old team during the 2025 Formula 1 season. Mercedes finished the best part of 200 points behind Ferrari last year, but the two often battled on track.
Ferrari lost out to McLaren in the title race by just 14 points, an agonising margin but one that breeds optimism for the season ahead. The Scuderia are firm contenders to win their first championship since 2008.
Mercedes, meanwhile, are more an outsider. They won four Grands Prix last season – only one fewer than the Prancing Horse – but the top three teams all at least doubled their podium tally.
| TEAM | VICTORIES | PODIUMS |
| McLaren | 6 | 21 |
| Ferrari | 5 | 22 |
| Red Bull | 9 | 18 |
| Mercedes | 4 | 9 |
They have spent the first three-quarters of F1’s ground-effect era wrestling with their car. Mercedes promised Hamilton a title challenger on numerous occasions, but weren’t able to deliver.
That led to mounting frustration on both sides before the British driver decided to leave. He craved a chance to end Max Verstappen’s run of dominance after the bitter end to the 2021 season.
Hamilton rarely clashed with George Russell during their time as teammates. But there may be an extra edge to their scraps during the year ahead.
Mercedes may have finally fixed their car problems – just after Lewis Hamilton left
According to a report from Motorsport Netherlands, there are ‘positive sounds’ coming from Mercedes’ Brackley base at the moment. They aren’t planning a launch event for their W16, though they will of course reveal their 2025 colours at the F175 ceremony in London next week.
The car will then make its on-track debut at the Bahrain International Circuit on 25 February, a day before pre-season testing at the same venue. Mercedes have tended to host a shakedown at Silverstone instead.
‘Rumour has it’ that Russell is ‘very pleased’ with the car’s handling after driving it in the simulator. It remains to be seen whether that translates to the real world, but the Silver Arrows’ engineers may have ‘found the problems’ with last year’s challenger.
They’ve also managed to get the car down to the weight limit, which will effectively be free lap time. For this year, the car must weigh at least 800kg without fuel.
Toto Wolff uttered a forbidden word during Mercedes’ Adidas launch
Hamilton will be frustrated if these rumours are true. For years, he waited for Mercedes to make a breakthrough, and it may now have arrived just after his departure.
The nightmare scenario would be his former team leapfrogging Ferrari in the pecking order. But perhaps that’s unrealistic, and even then the 2026 regulation changes could soon shake things up.
Hamilton ‘immediately’ feels comfortable in Ferrari’s car, despite his recent accident in Barcelona. He’ll drive the SF-25 at Fiorano a week before testing.
As they try to move on, Mercedes barred journalists from mentioning Hamilton at the recent launch of their Adidas partnership. However, after Wolff used the ‘forbidden name’, it opened the floodgates for the attending media.
Leave feedback about this