Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari explained: ‘I’ll go where they listen to me'
F1 News
The last time Lewis Hamilton switched teams, it turned out ot be the right choice. Recently, his move to Ferrari has left the world wondering whether or not the Briton knew something prior to making the switch over from Mercedes. Sky Sports pundits, Ted Kravitz and Karun Chandhok discussed Hamilton’s decision, citing the German team’s neglect of his input as a potential motivator behind his choice.
When Hamilton left McLaren for Mercedes many were left baffled by the move. However, after all the wins, poles and championships he and the team conquered together, it proved to be the right choice. With a secret meeting with former Mercedes executive advisor, Niki Lauda, being the move igniting last straw for Hamilton, suggesting he knew something before jumping the ship over from McLaren, Kravitz wonders if it was the same this time around.
Did Hamilton know?
"But did Lewis know when he decided over the winter, 'Do you know what, we haven’t even turned a wheel in testing yet but I don’t think Mercedes is the place to be – I'm going to go at Ferrari,'" said Kravitz during Sky F1’s Podcast. "Was that just a leap in the dark for you? Because it turned out to be absolutely true."
While Ferrari battled McLaren for the Constructors’ championship until the very last race of the season, Mercedes was clearly the last of the top teams, with the Germans finishing a long way away from Red Bull Racing, even with the Austrian team’s profound dip in form that troubled them since Miami all the way up to Brazil. Kravitz noticed that as well.
"Look at Mercedes. They’ve been a bit lost. They never knew which kind of car was going to turn up at the racetrack and what it was going to do. It might win brilliantly, like in Belgium then one gets disqualified because they’re running it too low, too light, the wear, whatever. Do you think Lewis knew, or do you think that was just a punt?" he asked fellow Sky pundit Chandhok.
Did Hamilton's 'calculated move' rest on Mercedes not listening to him?
"I think it was a punt, because how could you tell what the opposition were doing?," replied the former F1 driver. "He would have obviously have had a feeling of what was going on at Mercedes," adding later Hamilton’s discontent around the team not listening to his input on the development directions they took with their cars since the 2022 season, which have marred Mercedes' ground effect era run with inconsistency, leaving the team fighting for the odd podium and win.
"On reflection early in the year, he was talking about some of those conversations so maybe that just steered him towards thinking, 'Maybe I'll go somewhere else where they will listen a bit more'", cited Chandhok as a potential reason to Hamilton’s choice to go to Ferrari, before concluding that: "I think it’s a calculated risk. It’s worked out once, we’ll see what happens again."