The excitement for the 2024 season is at an all-time high following a week of jaw-dropping Formula One news. Lewis Hamilton’s planned transfer to Ferrari is expected to cause chaos as Mercedes attempts to find a successor and the current number two, Carlos Sainz, looks to secure a new seat.
In less than two weeks, preseason testing will begin, and the season’s opening match in Bahrain is less than a month away. Before leaving Mercedes to join his new team, Hamilton will be eager to cap off his 11-year tenure there on a good note.
In the meantime, Max Verstappen is attempting to win four straight drivers’ championships. If stopping the Dutchman is going to be a realistic possibility, Red Bull’s opponents have a lot of ground to make up.
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Toto Wolff confronts the Mercedes “exodus” as Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari departure takes a turn
After spending more than ten years with Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton stunned the Formula One community by deciding to sign for Ferrari for the 2025 season.
The surprise decision by Lewis Hamilton to go from Mercedes to Ferrari is said to have been influenced by the departure of Loic Serra, the head of vehicle performance. Serra was Fred Vasseur’s first significant technical hire after taking over the Italian constructor the previous season. Now that the two have left, Totokwolff is apparently expecting more significant staff members to leave.
A story from RacingNews365 claims that Serra and the Mercedes technical department, which was led by the recently deceased Mike Elliott, had been embroiled in a protracted disagreement on how the team should proceed with the W13 and W14.
Due to the long wheelbase and floor plans of those two cars, Serra thought the team should be moving in the wrong direction with their philosophy. However, the Silver Arrows chose to focus more on the W13’s attributes than he did, which turned out to be a disastrous decision.
Additionally, Hamilton made a strong case against carrying over the “zeropod” design experiment from the W13 to the W14. During the winter development phase, the 39-year-old offered the team a number of proposals, but all were ignored.
Lando Norris responds to Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari right away, displaying his true colors.
Driver for McLaren Lando Norris expressed his shock at the report that Lewis Hamilton will supposedly join Ferrari in 2025 after leaving Mercedes. The British player appeared to have decided to end his career elsewhere, despite having signed a two-year contract with the Silver Arrows last year.
Over the past 12 months, Hamilton has been frequently linked to a move to Ferrari. This comes after a disappointing several seasons at Mercedes, where he was unable to seriously challenge Max Verstappen for the Drivers’ Championship.
The 39-year-old reportedly discussed a possible swap with Ferrari CEO John Elkann, but Mercedes finally convinced Hamilton to stay with the team for a another two years.
But with a deal in place to join Ferrari the following year, it is becoming less and less probable that the seven-time world champion will really finish out his contract with the club.
