It was February of 2024 when Lewis Hamilton decided to wreck more than a few lives as he announced he was leaving Mercedes and walking very stylishly to the oldest team in Formula 1 and whose name is associated with motorsports itself. Lewis Hamilton dropped the bomb of joining Scuderia Ferrari.
One year later…
It was on 22 January 2025, that Lewis Hamilton was present for his first day at the Maranello Factory where he donned the Signature Red race suit and jumped into an older version of the SF24 and drove a few laps at the very famous Ferrari testing track – Fiorano.
This marks a big change in Formula 1 and also for all the fans around the world. Mercedes had become the name behind Lewis Hamilton and vice versa. Nobody had thought that Lewis Hamilton would ever leave McLaren in 2012, and no one thought it would be for Mercedes. And again no had imagined that Lewis would leave Mercedes to go to Ferrari.
But it was the work of the ever analytical, honest and tactical legend the Computer Niki Lauda who brought a young and talented Hamilton to Mercedes.
Reaching incomparable success in all those years at Mercedes
Lewis joined Mercedes in 2013 and went on to win every World Championship from 2014 to 2020, with the only exception of 2016. He holds the records for the most pole positions, most wins, most championship wins alongside Micheal Schumacher, and so much more.
All the while, Mercedes backed him up and they both rose together to the greatest heights in Formula 1 history.
The turning point came in 2022
With the new regulations taking place and the ground effect era beginning, Mercedes was at a huge loss as they were in a very bad position when the season started and they never seemed to improve.
For Lewis, he could see his dreams going down the drain as he tried and tried but could not get any speed out of the car due to the porpoising issue. After most races his back hurt and he was barely getting any grip on the championship ladder.
So, finally the move came, before the 2024 season even began, Lewis came forth with the most shocking and yet exciting news for us Formula 1 fans of moving from England to Italy as he switched his car from black to red.
What lies ahead?
2025 is the last year with these hybrid cars and the reliance on battery power is going to increase to 50% from 2026. The cars of this year are going to be absolutely obsolete next year. Which team will make the right choice in the development process for their 2026 cars is still yet to be seen.
But what happens this year is another question altogether. Looking at last year’s events, either Ferrari, or McLaren, or Red Bull could come out as the winner. Red Bull have managed to regain some of their lost pace. McLaren are already the fastest and…
Ferrari just missed out on a championship last year. The reason was more than a few bad calls by the strategy team. But from the looks of it, Fred Vasseur is a man who learns from his mistakes, he let go of Sainz to accommodate the 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, and be assured he will have a rocket ship of a car ready for the first race of the season at Alberto Park in Australia.
Another chance at a championship?
Lewis Hamilton has opted Ferrari because he feels this gives him an opportunity to win the championship again.
Will he rise to the top again? Will he be an 8x World Champion finally, as most people believe to him be?
Only time will tell.
There is no question that Red race kit, and the number 44 do seem to make quite a match on and off the track. Here’s to Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton to winning as many races as he did with Mercedes and even more with Ferrari.
One thing is for sure they will make history together.