Hamilton Makes His Move From Mercedes To Ferrari: So What Now?

After a few hours of hysteria from fans on X, the details were finally confirmed. But what's to follow? There are many ifs and buts at the moment due to the early nature of this announcement but here are some possible answers and theories that have been thrown around:

Why Ferrari?

Ferrari is statistically the most successful team in Formula One history, creating world famous names like Juan Manual Fangio, Niki Lauda, Kimi Räikkönnen and of course, Michael Schumacher. The German is the only other driver to equal Hamilton's record of seven world championships, five of these being between 2000 and 2004 with Ferrari. Could this be the team where he feels he could dethrone 'The Red Baron' and seal an eighth world championship? This would create a diverse range of Driver Championships for the Briton.

Additionally, it's no secret that most drivers in their career want to drive and win with Ferrari and I believe this could be the same for Lewis. But after spending a heavy amount of his career at Mercedes, is it almost time for the 39-year-old to give up racing overall? Could the move end up being just a 'tick in the box' before it's time to say farewell for good? It's entirely possible that this could be true because who knows how long the 'multi-year contract' (formula1.com) with Ferrari will end up lasting for. Time will tell whether it is possible for that eighth win to rise; Mercedes have certainly struggled over the past two seasons with a dominating Red Bull car but it could be the fact that a new generation of drivers with new skills are pulling in to push the older generation out of competing.

What Happens To Carlos Sainz?

The introduction of Lewis Hamilton means a conclusion for the Spanish driver, Carlos Sainz. Once the news was confirmed around 7pm GMT, he posted this following statement to his social media:

The team have made it clear that they must move on with a reliable pilot but there's no doubt that other teams won't take the opportunity to sign with the Spaniard. There could be around four choices.

Number one is the possibility that Sainz will sign an early contract with Audi for 2026 due to his fathers connections, Carlos Sainz Snr., with Audi in the Dakar Rally. He's even quoted saying "Audi, I think, is a guarantee" (PlanetF1.com). This scenario could mean that he goes with Sauber for 2025 as both current drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, contracts end by 2024 or instead take a year out of the sport as a whole. It would set Sainz up perfectly to join the new era of racing.

Number two is the off chance that Red Bull decide to replace Sergio 'Checo' Perez and take on the former Toro Rosso driver to be Max's 'co-driver' just like the pairing was in 2015. Perez' seat has been in question for many months and as found out today, anything can be possible in the Formula One world. However, the unlikelihood of this scenario is heightened by Daniel Ricciardo's close presence in the newly named VisaCashApp RB team (formally AlphaTauri) and whether he could join back up to the ranks like he was six years ago. This move also wouldn't necessarily benefit Carlos as he would most likely be unable to win a championship from this position.

Numbers three and four is that Sainz could move to Mercedes AMG or Aston Martin. Although, applying him to Mercedes wouldn't seem feasible with George Russell as they are more in the market for a younger face (more on this below) and considering the success from Fernando Alonso at the start of the 2023 season, it doesn't seem like they will be in discussion either until we know how the 2024 season is headed.

There are many more small details that could be ironed out but there is no doubt that Carlos Sainz will be wanted somewhere. Albeit he may lack in consistency, negotiations will be most certainly take place for 2025.

Who Will Fill The Mercedes Seat?

One of the most important questions to fans will be who's going to fill the seat in Hamilton's place? The most obvious choice would be for George Russell to take the mantle, fighting for the championship that could soon be his with the help of the previously dominating team. That is if they're up to the task. The 2019 rookie arguably sits on the top end of the success Formula One train and seems a decent fit. So it poses another question of who will be his teammate?

Many ideas were thrown around by Sky Sports reporters in the official announcement stream yesterday evening. Suggestions included the likes of Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri, however this would only be if the McLaren driver could find an ultimatum in his extended contact, just like Lewis has. Analyzing the comparison of success between McLaren and Mercedes in the 2023 season would also make it seem more like a downgrade for the young Australian, so this significant move would be unlikely.

Alex Albon's name has been mentioned to join the Mercedes ranks alongside one of his 'best mates' on the grid according to Natalie Pinkham (skysports.com). This seems reasonably logical considering his relationship as a Williams driver to the Silver Arrows team. It would be a final stage of the great building blocks that have been slowly piling up over the past two seasons, showing great progress for the team particularly during Canada 2023 where he qualified 9th and finished with a race result of 7th (6 points) with help from a great strategy and race pace from the team and the drivers input. Similar results throughout the year managed to climb the team to P7 in the championship standings, unheard of 5 years prior. But would he work well with Russell?

A different sort of name could also break through to the top team, his name being Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Kimi, as he is called, joined the Mercedes Junior Programme in 2019 and has been showing great progress through Formula Regional and Italian F4, both of which he has been a champion for (mercedesamgf1.com). His bright future raises the bar even further as he joins Prema for Formula 2 in the 2024 season at just 17 years old. Martin Brundle also backed this proposal during the announcement due to his close relationship with Toto Wolff. Recent interviews with the team principal on the other hand suggest otherwise, emphasising that "putting him into F2 is a big step because those cars are heavier and much more powerful" (thesun.co.uk) So would Kimi be ready for as huge as a challenge as Mercedes AMG in the next year? Only he can prove this.

Who Will Fred Vasseur Favour?

The all important debate across all platforms. Given the circumstances that Charles Leclerc is currently driving for Ferrari and has been for the past five seasons with Fred Vasseur as the team principal for one of these seasons, it would seem to be an obvious choice for Fred to choose him as a number 1 driver. He's young, has the potential to be a world champion in the famous red and has lived through the team for most of his racing life as he was a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy before Formula One. Although this might not be the case.

To newer Formula One fans, they might not know the extent of Lewis and Fred's relationship and the fact that during his young karting career, the teams he raced for were owned by the Ferrari boss himself. This included during his GP2 campaign in 2006 and helping him prepare for his F1 campaign. Vasseur even admits to talking with Hamilton "at every GP" and they are "still close" (express.co.uk). This is where you'd now believe that this isn't such a radical move.

On the other hand, it seems that Ferrari have been pushing for Leclerc's championship campaign more over the past few weeks. This comes after confirming a contract extension with the Scuderia until "beyond 2024" (formula1.com), creating media to encourage support from the fans for the upcoming year. Charles winning the 2024 Formula One championship is an absolute possibility but in the case of a failure, would Lewis be prepare to give up the chances of an eighth world title to allow and help his teammate win his first? Is he able to accept his role in Formula One as the mentor and helper rather than a racer? The decomposition of this mentality is almost impossible to comprehend for such a successful driver such as Hamilton, labelled by fans as 'The GOAT'.

There's no certainty that the British driver will be any better in a Ferrari than the Monegasque either. This dynamic works in par with the relationship that Charles Leclerc had with Sebastian Vettel, four-time world champion, in 2019. The younger driver took two wins in Spa and Monza despite the German being seen as the number one driver due to his experience and success at Red Bull. Plans for the new teammates could simply be for the season to start with no favoured driver and figure out who is better suited for the Ferrari, mimicking the same ideology made last season with Carlos Sainz.

Many emotions have been running through people minds about this move, with very mixed opinions. It is important to note that this transfer isn't until 2025 so there is an entire race season for any loose ties to become attached once again. More time will give the fans and the teams the answers that are needed instead of the ridiculous and apparently not-so-ridiculous rumours that circulate.