In a shock move, Mercedes Formula One driver and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will be switching teams after a 12-year long stint with the silver arrows. He will be partnering Monegasque racing driver Charles Leclerc and replacing Spanish driver Carlos Sainz in Scuderia Ferrari from 2025, according to reports by Sky Sports.
Hamilton currently has a contract with Mercedes that will expire in 2025, following which he will be replacing Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, according to a report by Sky Sports. Charles Leclerc signed a contract with Ferrari, extending his stint at the Red team, and will be partnering Lewis Hamilton in 2025 season.
The seven-time world champion is the most successful Formula One racing driver, with 103 wins and 104 pole positions. He equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of most championships, by winning a seventh world title in the 2020 season. His reign was ended by Max Verstappen, who beat the British driver in 2021 to clinch his first world championship. Hamilton, who has not won a race since December 2021, joined Mercedes in 2013, winning 6 championships with the Brackeley based outfit. His maiden championship win was with Mclaren in 2008.
Hamilton has been linked to Ferrari several times in the past since his F1 career started in 2007. He held talks with Ferrari last year but team principal Frederic Vasseur said that the Prancing Horses had never offered him a contract. Vasseur and Hamilton are long-time acquittances, with the former having run Hamilton in his ART Grand Prix squad in GP2 (Formula One feeder series).