Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari

[gshughes]

SpudLink said:

I certainly never thought it would happen. But here we are. "In F1 anything can happen, and unusually does."

Slight typo - "In F1 anything can happen, and usually does."

This is also relevant from the great man "IF is a very long word in Formula One; in fact, IF is F1 spelled backwards."

[TikTak]

Chris Stott said:

It’s the permanent headline on Sky sports news tv channel… Sky aren’t doing that unless they are 100%.

Yeah they've gone all in. Images on socials too.

https://www.instagram.com/skysports/p/C2zTfKsNWgV/...

[Muzzer79]

Will Buxton was on Twitter yesterday saying that something absolutely massive was going to be announced at the end of this week.....

If this is true, it begs the question of why?

Has he seen something at Ferrari to convince him they'll be on top for 2025/2026?

Has he seen something he doesn't like at Mercedes?

Is it a personal thing?

I can't believe a driver in, let's face it, the winter of his career chooses to go to Ferrari for emotional reasons......he'll want to win again before he retires.

Massive risk. Not sure it'll pay off. But then most people (despite what the Hindsight-Harrys tell you on here) said the same about the Mercedes move......

[SpudLink]

gshughes said:

SpudLink said:

I certainly never thought it would happen. But here we are. "In F1 anything can happen, and unusually does."

Slight typo - "In F1 anything can happen, and usually does."

This is also relevant from the great man "IF is a very long word in Formula One; in fact, IF is F1 spelled backwards."

Sorry. I blame it on the shock of the news.

Typo corrected

[Pistom]

It would be the best thing that's happened to the sport for a long time.

Let's hope it's true.

[ChocolateFrog]

honda_exige said:

Would love to see it. Great viewing to see if him or Leclerc have the upper hand.

But on the other hand I think he's crazy for not at least seeing how good or bad the Merc is in the 1st race before deciding.


OR is this a tacit admission that internally Merc already know they've missed targets for the 3rd year running?

I think it's very likely that RB will still be in a position to win 15+ races with Verstappen.

Let's hope I'm wrong.

Hamilton doesn't owe Merc anything.

[Red9zero]

the-norseman said:

Life long Ferrari fan here, also not a fan of Hamilton but this actually be our best shot at winning something again since 2008!

Same here. He needs to take Bono with him though !

[Byker28i]

Muzzer79 said:

Massive risk. Not sure it'll pay off. But then most people (despite what the Hindsight-Harrys tell you on here) said the same about the Mercedes move......

I still miss Tooned

[Hungrymc]

honda_exige said:

Would love to see it. Great viewing to see if him or Leclerc have the upper hand.

But on the other hand I think he's crazy for not at least seeing how good or bad the Merc is in the 1st race before deciding.


OR is this a tacit admission that internally Merc already know they've missed targets for the 3rd year running?

If it's as close as being reported. You'd have to assume its been in the offing for some time so maybe it isn't really influenced by where Mercedes is for 2024.

I guess if its where he has wanted to end his career, but wants to do that when he still believes he can be competitive with the best, and allowing a few years for development and progress with the car (maybe a gamble on 26 regs), it would need to be soon.

[LM240]

I’m in shock! There has been the rumours, but I never expected it.

Life long ferrari fan, not particularly a Hamilton fan, but I do respect his talent.

Hopefully they can get a decent car, sort themselves out and see what he can do.

I have not been impressed with Leclerc and surprised with Sainz. Much hope with CLC at the start but he has been a massive let down.

Edit…. Noted it isn’t an absolute done deal yet. So will wait for something official. Big move for better Mercedes contract?

Edited by LM240 on Thursday 1st February 10:58

[SmoothCriminal]

Hamilton must think that even with the massive change in Merc concept for 24 they won't deliver him a championship winning car in this era.

This is monumental if it happens.

[SpudLink]

BBC Sport said:

Sources have told BBC Sport that all Mercedes team members have been called to a team briefing with boss Toto Wolff and technical director James Allison at 14:00 GMT on Thursday. This is likely to be to announce Hamilton is leaving

So we may have confirmation this afternoon.

[WestyCarl]

Wow, I genuinely thought he would retire at Merc and be some sort of ambassador for them afterwards.

[epom]

Great news. He may as well, he's got nothing to lose. Good for him and good for the sport.

[Muzzer79]

More musings.....:


Why has Norris just extended his McLaren deal if there's a Mercedes seat up for grabs? Driver management surely knows what's happening and coming up?

Presumably, this is why Sainz hasn't had a contract extension


Ferrari.......never thought I'd see it. Doesn't make sense on a lot of levels, but he'll be in a position to know much more than us.....

[the-norseman]

Mercedes have called an all staff conference with Toto at 1400 apparently, surely to announce hes leaving.

[TikTak]

Hungrymc said:

honda_exige said:

Would love to see it. Great viewing to see if him or Leclerc have the upper hand.

But on the other hand I think he's crazy for not at least seeing how good or bad the Merc is in the 1st race before deciding.


OR is this a tacit admission that internally Merc already know they've missed targets for the 3rd year running?

If it's as close as being reported. You'd have to assume its been in the offing for some time so maybe it isn't really influenced by where Mercedes is for 2024.

I guess if its where he has wanted to end his career, but wants to do that when he still believes he can be competitive with the best, and allowing a few years for development and progress with the car (maybe a gamble on 26 regs), it would need to be soon.

Honestly think being in the 3rd or 4th quickest team (currently, at least on paper) respectively is neither here nor there, and there's little indication where teams will be for the 26 reg changes either.

I'd assume they've promised to throw half of Italy at getting out the traps fastest in '26, an absolute truckload of cash and the personal gratification of if he can get a WDC there he emulates and surpasses Schumacher in one hit.

[Hustle_]

gshughes said:

Autosport are reporting that Lewis Hamilton is to sign for Ferrari for 2025

Well I'll be!

[EmailAddress]

Ferrari overspend incoming.

[HTP99]

Wow, I never saw this actually happening, there were all the rumours in the past, however I am proper excited for this, I'm not particularly a Ferrari fan but imagine if he wins a WDC championship for them it would be epic.

I imagine Ferrari just said to him "how much do you want?"