Lewis Hamilton, one of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula 1, is moving from Mercedes to Ferrari in 2025, according to multiple reports on Thursday.
The seven-time world champion — who is tied with Michael Schumacher for the most titles ever — recently signed an approximate $126.7 million deal to stay on with Mercedes, the team he’s risen to greatness with, through the 2025 F1 season.
However, it is believed that there is an opt-out in his deal that would allow him to leave the team at the end of the 2024 campaign and join Ferrari, which was linked to Hamilton ahead of this year. The new Formula 1 season begins on Feb. 28 in Bahrain.
He is expected to replace Carlos Sainz, whose contract expires at the end of this year, at Ferrari. The Italian team’s other driver, Charles Leclerc, recently signed a long-term deal.
The 39-year-old Hamilton has not won an F1 race since the 2021 season as Mercedes has fallen off its remarkable perch — usurped by Max Verstappen and Team Red Bull. From 2014-2020, Hamilton won six world championships in seven years with Mercedes after winning his first title with McLaren in 2008.
Amidst the recent downturn, Hamilton has made it known that he’s mulled a future with Ferrari — a sleeping giant of the F1 world.
“I’d be lying if I said I’d never thought about ending my career anywhere else,” Hamilton told ESPN during the 2023 season. “I started at McLaren, I’d like to think I’ll always be a part of the McLaren family, I started there when I was 13 years old so I thought about what it would look like if I was at McLaren one day. I thought about and watched the Ferrari drivers on the screens at the track and of course, you wonder what it would be like to be in red.”
Ferrari hasn’t won a world championship since 2007 through Kimi Raikkonen — the team’s only title after Schumacher’s run of five straight triumphs from 2000-2004. They haven’t won a constructor’s championship since 2008.
