Martin Brundle reveals theory on why Lewis Hamilton is making huge Ferrari switch

Martin Brundle believes Lewis Hamilton will be motivated by wanting to “get back to Lewis Hamilton, the racing driver” and rid himself of non-F1 distractions by moving to Ferrari.

Hamilton has been announced as a Ferrari driver for 2025 after reports from Italy quickly escalated and firmed up that he would leave Mercedes at the end of 2024.

Neither Mercedes nor Ferrari initially commented to PlanetF1.com when approached about the speculation, with Mercedes staff having been informed of the news earlier on Thursday via an all-staff meeting.

Martin Brundle reveals ‘Lewis Hamilton, the racing driver’ theory behind Ferrari move

Brundle pointed to recent changes the seven-time World Champion has made to his personal circle as he looks to bring success back in 2024, having gone two full seasons without winning a race.

Given the widespread ramifications of the move, Hamilton would be leaving the team with which he has won six of his seven World Championships, but former F1 driver Brundle thinks this could be the right opportunity at the right time in his career.

“He’s had a couple of years of not winning a race and we see other changes he’s made around with bringing back Marc Hynes, who was his long-time mentor, eyes and ears in the paddock, a former racer, a really solid guy to have around him,” Brundle elaborated on Sky Sports News.

“And I think Lewis has probably gone ‘right, I’m going to stop focusing so much on all of the stuff outside of motor racing, and I just want to get back to Lewis Hamilton, the racing driver’, and I think this is just a wonderful opportunity to motivate him, to energise him for this phase of his career.”

A move to Maranello would represent a huge marker having been laid down in the 2024 ‘silly season’, with 13 drivers already out of contract at the end of the season.

Hamilton had not been one of them, with a deal initially secured until 2025 with Mercedes, but Brundle spoke of his delight to see the most statistically successful driver in the sport’s history so heavily linked with the most successful team in Formula 1 – not least for the storyline attached.

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“We talked to him about it for years in interviews, [asking] ‘Wouldn’t you fancy doing a Michael Schumacher and going to Ferrari and trying to make them champions again?’ And he’s always said, ‘Look, I’ve been with Mercedes, even when I was at McLaren, I had Mercedes engines. They’re my team and my manufacturer for life’,” Brundle said.

“But we understand it’s now going to happen, and I am excited about it because what a story, Hamilton in a Ferrari.

“I was a little bit depressed earlier on in the week, depressed is probably too strong a word but Lando Norris [is signed] long term at McLaren, as is Oscar Piastri. George Russell now on long-term at Mercedes Benz, Leclerc signed up long-term for Ferrari, Max Verstappen long-term at Red Bull and it all looked a little bit static, to be honest.

“The championship’s quite mature now in terms of the venues and I’m thinking ‘we need some stories’, Andretti didn’t get the entry, so this is just what we needed to energise it.”

Read next: The 13 drivers out of contract at the end of the F1 2024 season