Lewis Hamilton relieved Mercedes of a “massive issue” when it came to future-proofing their team by joining Ferrari.

That is the opinion of 13-time F1 race winner David Coulthard, who believes that Hamilton making the move from Mercedes to Ferrari was a “gift” for the former, rather than a headache.

Mercedes ‘gifted a solution’ with Lewis Hamilton exit?

Ahead of the F1 2024 campaign, Hamilton activated an exit clause in his Mercedes contract to secure an F1 2025 move to Ferrari, with Mercedes ultimately opting to place their faith in teenage sensation Kimi Antonelli to step up after a season in Formula 2.

But, Mercedes losing the most successful F1 driver of all time is not a nightmare scenario for Mercedes, believes Coulthard, who instead claims it gave the Silver Arrows a clear path to bring in Antonelli alongside George Russell and build for the future.

Hamilton endured a challenging final Mercedes season despite returning to the top step of the podium at Silverstone and Spa, suffering a heavy 19-5 defeat to Russell in the F1 2024 qualifying head-to-head, triggering an “I’m definitely not fast anymore” claim from Hamilton.

“I think what has actually happened is Lewis has gifted Mercedes a solution, because it was always going to come to an end at a certain point,” said Channel 4 pundit Coulthard at the Abu Dhabi GP.

“The fact that he’s chosen to follow the Ferrari dream came as a bit of a surprise to Mercedes, but then they’ve now been able to plug in with Antonelli, build the future.

“It remains to be seen whether he steps up or not, but yeah, it’s taken a massive issue away from Mercedes.”

Hamilton’s pursuit of a record eighth World Championship rolls over into his Ferrari career, having not been in title contention since 2021, but Coulthard feels Hamilton’s GOAT [greatest of all time] status is already secured regardless of whether he wins more titles.

“Many people still reflect on being here in ’21 and the championship got away,” said Coulthard, “but if you actually look at his career stats, he doesn’t need an eighth or a ninth World Championship to be considered the GOAT. It’s absolutely remarkable.”

Final F1 2024 head-to-head standings

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

And Coulthard believes Hamilton’s legacy as a Mercedes driver – the team with which he won six of his seven World titles – will be that he pulled off his record-breaking achievements in a “gentle” manner.

Most F1 wins, poles and podiums were among the records broken by Hamilton at Mercedes, alongside his seventh World Championship which put him level with Michael Schumacher.

“And he’s a kind-mannered, gentle racer,” Coulthard continued. “He’s not a sort of get in there and rough you up at all.

“So, I think the legacy from that period of his career is a certain style and not overly aggressive.”

Hamilton will partner Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz moving to Williams in a multi-year deal.

Read next: David Croft delivers message to Hamilton fans over ‘almost daily’ Abu Dhabi ‘21 messages