February 1, 2024 will never be forgotten by the Formula 1 community. After winning six drivers' titles with Mercedes-AMG, the one and only Lewis Hamilton confirmed that he's leaving the German team from Brackley for Maranello's favorite son.
It all started in the early hours of February 1, 2024 on social media, with everyone and their dog reporting that LH44 will be donning a Prancing Horse on his racing suit in 2025. All involved parties eventually confirmed the inevitable, which is certain to cause havoc on the drivers' market.
For starters, Toto Wolff now has to replace Lewis with a talented racing driver. Carlos Sainz Jr. drew the shortest straw, though, because the Spaniard has to leave Scuderia Ferrari at the end of 2024 for another team. Linked to Audi for 2026, the Spaniard is without a seat for the 2025 season at the moment of reporting. Quite a few contracts expire at the end of 2024, including those of Valtteri and Zhou.
In terms of racecraft alone, there's no denying that Ferrari has the strongest driver pairing for 2025. But when it comes to the car, Ferrari is probably going to play second fiddle to Red Bull in 2025 as well. Vettel said a few years ago that everybody is a Ferrari fan, whereas Hamilton made it clear that his career will end in a Silver Arrow. How the turntables, right? Then again, who could blame him for signing with the Scuderia after so many disappointments at Merc in the last two seasons?
Most likely frustrated with the direction of development, Hamilton chose wisely to join the Scuderia for 2025. How come? Remember that Frederic Vasseur contracted top engineers for the 2025 car – including talented peeps from Red Bull – which results in a new design philosophy for the Ferrari SF-25.
Photo: Lewis Hamilton on Facebook
The big question is, is Leclerc going to be fine with his vastly more experienced teammate? Will he enjoy being the number two driver if Vasseur – just like Toto – puts Lewis on a pedestal? Those questions will be answered in 2025, though...
In the meantime, Ferrari shares are roaring by more than 9 percent. Trading as RACE on the stock exchange, the Italian company is close to cracking a staggering €70 billion in market cap value.
Add to that a full order book, a strong operating profit, and two heavily anticipated product launches in 2024, and it's easy to understand why Ferrari is worth this much. With Lewis driving for the Scuderia in 2025, it's also easy to imagine Ferrari NV's market capitalization ballooning to €80 billion.
On that note, can you see Lewis winning races in red? If so, can you also see the British racing driver pull a Rosberg by retiring from F1 after winning another title?
Team Statement
Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract. pic.twitter.com/moEMqUgzXH
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team and Lewis Hamilton will part ways at the end of the 2024 season. Lewis has activated a release option in the contract announced last year.
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 1, 2024
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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