Why Lewis Hamilton will welcome fresh challenge at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton will be moving to Ferrari in 2025. Given the consistent loyalty messages to Mercedes over the last decade, it looks like a bizarre move and one that raises eyebrows. But here's why Hamilton wants the new challenge. 

Seeing something he doesn't like

Hamilton has always been vocal in praising his team. The guys and girls at Mercedes' factories frequently receive praise and encouragement during Hamilton's interviews post-race, and even more so when there's an upgrade for Hamilton to test. Though Hamilton's concluding words in the paddock following the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix spoke volumes. 

Hamilton and George Russell scored enough points in the race to secure P2 for Mercedes in the World Championship. The seven-time World Champion didn't have the best of races and finished ninth, but it ensured his record of scoring points at every Grand Prix weekend in 2023 remained in place. Despite this, Hamilton was downbeat in front of the Sky Sports microphone. He was asked what the best thing was in 2023: "the fact I survived it".

"For Red Bull to win by 17 seconds, and they haven’t developed since August, is definitely a concern. We’ve learnt a lot about the car. It’s down to the team now. Whether we’ll get there, we’ll see," Hamilton said in Abu Dhabi.

That last sentence would suggest he doesn't entirely trust the team to close the gap enough during the winter break. Of course, that doesn't mean he expects the team to regress or not find any improvements. It's more about his confidence in closing the 17-second gap he highlighted. Hamilton has been away on his winter break, but some connections will remain with the factory. Perhaps there is still some ever-lingering doubt about the direction Mercedes are taking and questioning whether it's enough. 

McLaren managed to make a big jump in 2023. The jump was big enough to come from behind Mercedes at the start of the season to challenge Red Bull consistently for pole positions from the summer onwards. Oscar Piastri even won a sprint race in Qatar. Hamilton made multiple references to this jump during the season, highlighting that such gains are possible.

Prestige for driving at Ferrari

Let's be honest; there isn't much Hamilton hasn't done in his F1 career. With seven World Championships, the most wins of all time and the most pole positions of all time, Hamilton is statistically the greatest driver ever in F1 history. He's won his home race multiple times and even has a straight named after him at Silverstone. The kid from Stevenage has just about ticked every box, apart from two glaringly obvious ones. 

An 8th World Championship and a drive for Ferrari. It would be almost impossible to go through the last 25 years and find a driver who doesn't want to race for Ferrari. Even though they haven't won a drivers' championship since 2007 (Hamilton's debut year), it's still one of the hottest seats going due to the history and prestige. It's something that every driver would be happy to experience at some point in their career, and there's no reason why Hamilton would be any different.