History offers little support for Verstappen's potential McLaren move

GPblog was the first to report last Tuesday on a potentially imminent deal between Verstappen and McLaren, where the Dutchman would form a formidable driver pairing alongside current world champion Lando Norris, the very driver he battled for the title until the final race last season.

History has shown that leaving a team where a driver has spent years building strong foundations does not always lead to a better future. One of the clearest examples is Michael Schumacher. Although four years separated his departure from Ferrari at the end of 2006 and his Formula 1 comeback with Mercedes, the seven-time world champion's spell at Brackley demonstrated that a fresh challenge does not always go according to plan.

Schumacher spent three seasons alongside Nico Rosberg after committing to Mercedes' ambitious long-term project, a team that would go on to dominate Formula 1's hybrid era just a few years later. During his time there, however, the results fell well short of expectations.

His Mercedes stint is remembered mainly for his brilliant Monaco pole position in 2012 - later stripped because of a grid penalty carried over from the previous race - and his podium finish at the European Grand Prix in Valencia. Beyond those highlights, there was little to celebrate before Schumacher brought the curtain down on his Formula 1 career for good at the end of the 2012 season in Brazil.

Another relatively recent example is Sebastian Vettel. After spending six seasons with Red Bull Racing and winning four consecutive world championships, the German chose to leave the Milton Keynes-based team at the end of 2014 in pursuit of his dream of becoming world champion with Ferrari. Ultimately, however, that dream never became reality.

Vettel enjoyed plenty of memorable moments during his six seasons at Maranello, even if the ultimate prize always slipped through his fingers. Across his Ferrari spell, he claimed 14 victories, 55 podium finishes and 12 pole positions, while finishing runner-up in the drivers' championship in both 2017 and 2018. He eventually parted ways with the Scuderia at the end of 2020 following an extremely difficult campaign for both himself and the team during the COVID-affected season.

Another notable example is Fernando Alonso. After spending five seasons with Renault (and one year at McLaren) across two spells and winning both of his world championships with the Enstone-based outfit, the Spaniard decided to leave at the end of 2009 to fulfil his long-held ambition of racing for Ferrari. At the time, the move looked like the perfect opportunity to add to his tally of titles, with Alonso arriving at Maranello as one of Formula 1's biggest stars. Despite coming agonisingly close on several occasions, however, that elusive third championship never materialised.

Alonso nevertheless enjoyed several outstanding years in Ferrari colours, establishing himself as one of the grid's benchmark performers. During his five seasons with the Scuderia, he claimed 11 victories, 44 podium finishes and four pole positions, while finishing runner-up in the drivers' championship in both 2010 and 2012 after taking the title fight down to the final race of the season. Following a difficult 2014 campaign, Alonso opted to leave Ferrari and return to McLaren, bringing an end to a partnership that produced many memorable performances but ultimately fell short of delivering the world title both sides had hoped for.

The most recent example is Lewis Hamilton, the driver who has spent more seasons with a single Formula 1 team than anyone else. The Briton remained with Mercedes for 12 seasons, winning six world championships and dominating the sport from 2014 to 2021. However, with the arrival of Formula 1's ground-effect regulations, Hamilton was no longer able to reproduce the level of form that had defined his career until his title battle with Verstappen in 2021. As a result, he chose to leave Mercedes at the end of 2024 and embrace one final major challenge by joining Ferrari, following a path similar to Vettel's.

His first season at Maranello proved to be hugely disappointing, as he finished the campaign without a single podium, victory or pole position, leading many to question whether it was finally time for the seven-time world champion to retire. Hamilton has bounced back impressively this year, however. A victory in Barcelona, combined with a string of podium finishes and strong results, has lifted him to third in the drivers' standings and firmly back into title contention, showing that his gamble to join Ferrari has ultimately paid off.