I'd go after Piastri. Throw some money at it and get him out of his contract early. Assuming he's open to it.
I wonder if Lewis opting to leave Merc is partly due to his requests for car changes are not being met. i.e. he wants to sit further back so his steering is more 'normal' and I'm sure I remember him saying that he has asked for certain changes last year and they didn't appear on the car. Plus a huge pay cheque, fulfilling a dream to drive for Ferrari and more say in the development of the car - all add up to a big pull.
From what I understand they have shifted the driving position of the W15. Might just be wanting to drive for Ferrari, the desire for a change environment to rejuvenate himself, or he's just not confident about the long term plans at Merc. With the absolute joke that Ferrari have been, it doesn't seem like a wise decision. But people thought that about moving to Merc. They must have sold it to him really well. Or it's pure romance. I'll be happy if he snags a few race wins.
A drivers career is not complete if he hasn't driven for Ferrari. I was surprised and hope it is not a swan song but undertaken with ambition. Does it say something about this years Mercedes offering.
Think it's too early to determine that and this must have been in the works a while. Could be lack of confidence in the long term direction though.
Mercedes confirm Hamilton has activated release clause in his contract and will leave the team at the end of the season
I would say going to Ferrari in 2025 is a good time as he gets to provide input to the new 2026 regs car and gets to see how the team works or doesn't with a bot of time to sort stuff out before the new regs come in. Did you see Ferrari's share price increased by 10% even before the official announcement - so that added about £6 billion to the value of Ferrari!!! Definitely paid for a good salary for him!
Surreal. I'd imagine Lewis is all in on the romance of it. If it was about the cars, he'd at least wait for testing. Frankly neither team seems likely fight for a championship before Lewis is too old, but his final win would be more meaningful in red.
I'm just excited to see him behind the wheel of a Ferrari. If it has a fairytale ending, brilliant! Let's see what they can pull out of the bag together for 2026. And for gods sake gets some better strategists!!!
Heartbroken at the Klopp announcement last week, buzzing at the Hamilton announcement this week. Two big shockers!!!
Whatever happens from a sporting perspective, it makes sense for both sides commercially. Personally I can’t find a reason to expect it to be a sporting success, but Hamilton/his management have been highly effective at putting him in the best place for his career so far.
There no telling how this may play out come 2026, but if I could fast-forward through next season to find out (sans the aging another year) I would.
The more I think about this, there could be more to it that what we're seeing at this moment. Ferrari have been fishing for Hamilton for a while, yet somehow Hamilton seems to have had a fairly rapid change of heart given that this could have potentially been done last season, and the timing seems weird. So what do Ferrari have up their sleeve? Byrne and Brawn teaming up to work on the 2026 car?
