Lewis Hamilton has been subject to intense speculation regarding a shock move from Mercedes to Ferrari in 2025, but reports from the Italian media are suggesting that the 39-year-old could be racing for the Prancing Horse as early as this season.
After the first reports linking Hamilton to Ferrari appeared today, the story has progressed rapidly and it appears only a matter of time until an announcement is made. The Italian constructor was said to be interested in signing him last summer, but the Mercedes star opted to renew his existing deal with the Silver Arrows for a further two seasons.
At 39 years of age, time is running out for Hamilton to secure his record-breaking eighth World Championship, and as we witnessed when he swapped McLaren for Mercedes ahead of the 2013 season over a decade ago, he has never shied away from making difficult decisions regarding his future.
Now we look set to witness his most daring career move yet with Hamilton reportedly prepared to roll the dice, believing Ferrari to be his best bet in order to return to World Championship contention.
However, while initial reports suggested that Hamilton would join up with the Scuderia after completing the 2024 campaign with Mercedes, La Gazzetta dello Sport has claimed that the seven-time world champion may join their roster as early as the start of the upcoming season – meaning he could be donning the famous red this month during testing.
This change would cause a major ripple effect throughout the grid, leaving Mercedes and Carlos Sainz both in need of a short-term solution. The Spaniard would be the one to make way out of the existing Ferrari duo after Charles Leclerc put pen to paper on a multi-year contract extension in January.
As for Mercedes, they have no alternative options readily available, outside of the possibility of bringing Sainz in on short notice to help both parties for the 2024 campaign.
The Silver Arrows have existing connections to Esteban Ocon, but he still has 12 months left on his existing contract with Alpine, while neither Mick Schumacher nor Frederik Vesti is perceived as ready to make the jump into F1 at a top team.
Even the junior programme’s biggest hope – Kimi Antonelli – is some way off being ready for the big time. The Italian teenager is making his Formula Two debut this season but would need to wait until 2025 to make his F1 debut.
