‘Something has dissatisfied Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes’ to trigger Ferrari switch

Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle says it is clear “something dissatisfied” Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes to trigger his Ferrari switch, which he believes is about “re-focusing” on his racing.

Before the on-track action has even got underway for F1 2024, the bombshell was dropped that Hamilton will be a Ferrari driver come 2025, having raced for the Mercedes team with whom he has won six of his seven World Championships since 2013.

Hamilton has just one season remaining then in Mercedes colours, having confirmed his “100 per cent” commitment to the cause despite his upcoming exit now being official.

‘Something dissatisfied’ Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

Hamilton has described the chance to race for Ferrari as realisation of a “childhood dream”, seizing what was perhaps his last chance to do that, with Charles Leclerc recently signing a new contract and Carlos Sainz also discussing fresh Ferrari terms.

That being said, Brundle believes there must have also been a push factor coming from Mercedes to steer Hamilton into this decision.

“Something has dissatisfied him at Mercedes-Benz,” Brundle claimed. “There’s no doubt about that.

“But I think also just I imagine, Lewis, looking back at the last couple of years, hasn’t won a race, realises that his life has taken off, all sorts of other extra-curricular stuff and he wants to refocus on his racing, needs a new challenge as he turns 40.

“And he’s brought Mark Hynes back in, his long-standing sort of right-hand man at the track, a racer as it were, and I think this is Lewis going, ‘Right, I want to refocus on my racing driving and I want this challenge’.

“And I think also, logistically, of course, Ferrari were on the cusp of signing Carlos Sainz, they needed to know and we all know, this is Formula 1, that news would be out in a heartbeat somewhere along the line, so it might as well come out now and it does mean that Lewis will be cut out of any knowledge through this season.”

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Put to Brundle that he had previously said this Hamilton to Ferrari bombshell is ‘what the sport needed’, Brundle explained that the driver market needed “energising”, following the recent announcements of new contracts for Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc to keep them at McLaren and Ferrari respectively, two in-demand F1 stars regarded as future World Champion material.

“It is,” said Brundle on that ‘what the sport needed’ belief, “because we’ve just had a week of Lando settling in at McLaren for many many years, [Max] Verstappen at Red Bull, George Russell at Mercedes, Leclerc re-signed for Ferrari for a long time,” Brundle suggested.

“And it all looks a little bit static and needed energising and we’ve got that.”

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