Lewis Hamilton has just three more Grand Prix with Mercedes before he makes his sensational move to Ferrari for the 2025 season.
The seven-time world champion won six of his titles with the Silver Arrows between 2014 and 2020 and saw him break numerous records in his 12 seasons with the team that make him statistically the greatest F1 driver of all time.
Hamilton has struggled in the ground effect era since 2022 as Mercedes have been unable to provide him a competitive car. The Brit won his first race since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Silverstone this year – a record ninth time – and inherited victory from George Russell at Spa after he was disqualified after the race.
The 39-year-old shocked the world when he announced his move to Ferrari on a multi-year deal. It is likely that the switch will be his last in F1 as he links up with Charles Leclerc who will receive equal treatment with Hamilton following debate as to who will be number one driver in 2025.
Hamilton will be eager to perform at the Maranello squad and grab his record-breaking eighth title, and according to Peter Windsor, he will go about it in his own way rather than follow the path of Sebastian Vettel, who ultimately failed in his quest to be world champion.
Why Lewis Hamilton will not follow the path of Sebastian Vettel when he joins Ferrari
Vettel joined the Maranello squad in 2015 after he struggled to get the best out of his Red Bull the year prior in the first season of the turbo-hybrid era. The German had won four consecutive titles from 2010 to 2013 but was beaten by teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the standings in 2014.
In his time at Ferrari, Vettel won 14 races and was Hamilton’s closest rival after Nico Rosberg retired in 2016. But the four-time champion could not get the edge over the dominate Mercedes as he finished second in the standings in 2017 and 2018.
Much like Fernando Alonso, Vettel did not reach his full potential at Ferrari, with his time with the team coming to a disappointing end in 2020 after scoring just 33 points. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Windsor believes Hamilton will not follow the German’s path as he is ‘self-critical’ and will continue to do the things he knows best to make his own path at Ferrari.
Put forward the question about whether the Brit will follow in Vettel’s footsteps, Windsor replied: “No, because Lewis is very self-critical unlike Seb, who just had one way of driving and never changed.
“Lewis, as we can see in his Mercedes time now, has been driving very differently over the last couple of years. He will be looking at how Charles drives, he’ll be thinking about the car, what he can do with the car, what he can do differently from Charles.
“All the normal racing Lewis things that he does, so he will definitely not follow the Vettel path at all at Ferrari. He’ll burn a unique path at Ferrari I think.”
Why Fernando Alonso called Toto Wolff after Lewis Hamilton announced he was leaving Mercedes
Hamilton’s news that he was joining Ferrari took everyone by surprise, including even Mercedes. Toto Wolff was tipped off by Carlos Sainz Sr as he discovered his son – Carlos Sainz Jr – was losing his seat at the end of the season.
Shortly after the news had broke – even before Mercedes officially knew about it – Wolff began to receive phone calls from several drivers wanting the now vacant seat at the Brackley-based team. The Austrian assumes that Leclerc had informed them of Hamilton’s departure.
Wolff was called by Fernando Alonso about the free seat at Mercedes, as the Silver Arrows were left thinking who to replace Hamilton with. Kimi Antonelli was ultimately selected, with the Italian teenager making another huge step up in his impressive career to date.
Alonso would eventually sign a new extension with Aston Martin to take him until at least 2026 with the Silverstone-based outfit. The team are in desperate need of a resurgence, after a dramatic fall from grace in 2024 after their best season to date the year prior.
Leave feedback about this