Lewis Hamilton will leave the Mercedes AMG Petronas team at the end of the upcoming 2024 Formula 1 season, and join Mercedes’ rivals Scuderia Ferrari in a shock move at the pinnacle of motorsport, reports Sky Sports News.
Hamilton’s current contract with Mercedes is set to expire at the end of the 2025 season, but the British driver will be leaving a year early, and will replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc signed a contract extension for ‘several more seasons’ with the Scuderia in the previous week, which means that Ferrari will have the brilliant driver pairing of Leclerc and Hamilton by the end of the year.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton is the most successful F1 driver in history with 103 wins and 104 pole positions under his belt. Micheal Schumacher is the only driver in F1 with as many world titles, but the legend of the sport has 12 less victories.
Despite his impressive tally, Hamilton has not won a race since December, 2021. The 39 year-old Brit joined Mercedes from McLaren in 2013 and has since then amassed six world titles with Merc, a team which he has become synonymous with.
Sky Sports News understands that Mercedes employees in the Brackley-based headquarters will be made aware of the news today before an announcement will be made by the team. Ferrari has not yet made the announcement that everyone is waiting for.
Featured image courtesy of @MercedesAMGF1 on X
