Marko warns Mercedes: 'Usually Hamilton's head will be with Ferrari'

It is not just the Christian Horner affair that has occupied Formula 1's minds for some time, but also Lewis Hamilton's mid-season announced move to Ferrari. Helmut Marko previously revealed that he was completely surprised by the Briton's departure from Mercedes, the team with which he enjoyed great success.

Speaking to OE24, the Austrian wonders aloud how it could have come to this: "Mercedes was overtaken by Ferrari in the second half of 2023, also McLaren was faster. Perhaps Hamilton knows something the outside world does not yet know," Marko states mysteriously.

'Mercedes gets weaker, Ferrari gets stronger'

At least for Red Bull, nothing at all changes, according to Marko. For Mercedes, he says, it is completely different. The Austrian team's external advisor believes that without Hamilton, Mercedes will get weaker, while Ferrari will actually get stronger. Not only on the track, but he refers to Ferrari's share price. That shot up after Hamilton's announcement.

But it is still some time before Hamilton actually wears red. The seven-time world champion will have to wait 12 months to drive his first metres for the Scuderia. First, another season with Mercedes awaits. That could still produce interesting storylines, Marko believes.

"Normally in such a situation you are already in your new team's thoughts. The current team can't inform him of major innovations either, because otherwise he will naturally take them with him. For the sport it's great, better than Netflix."