Despite Beating Them Comprehensively, Lewis Hamilton Stands Firm on His 2025 Ferrari Decision

Despite Beating Them Comprehensively, Lewis Hamilton Stands Firm on His 2025 Ferrari Decision

Lewis Hamilton sent the Silverstone crowd into raptures during Q3 for the 2024 British Grand Prix. Rounding off the final corner and onto the Sir Lewis Hamilton straight, the #44 driver earned his eleventh front-row start at the British GP.

But behind the jubilation of Mercedes’ redemption, the Briton must be feeling the pinch of possibly leaving the Silver Arrows just when they are about to regain their form of old. After the session, Hamilton was asked whether he would have made the jump to Ferrari if he knew how well the revised W15 could perform.

As reported by Formula Passion (quoted on X (formerly Twitter)), the seven-time world champion had a one-word answer – “Yes.” Hamilton will be ending his time at Mercedes to join Ferrari next year on a reported $400 million deal.

While this would make him F1’s highest-paid driver ever, recent form suggests his performances on track might not match up to his lofty salary. However, even when it comes to Ferrari, their recent performances have been underwhelming. Ever since the 2024 Spanish GP, Ferrari have fallen behind the Silver Arrows on pace.

This was confirmed once again during Qualifying for the Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc was shockingly knocked out of Q2. On the other hand, Carlos Sainz will start the race from seventh after being out-qualified by the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg.

Leclerc admits Ferrari are confused after British GP Q2 shocker

Ferrari had brought a comprehensive upgrade package to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. However, surprisingly, they fell back in the pecking order behind Mercedes. This was the case at the Red Bull Ring last weekend as well.

Speaking about his dreadful Q2 exit, Formula 1 quoted the #16 driver as admitting, “We are just slow. We are just really slow at the moment and we have a lot of inconsistencies with the car. We are trying to just assess the situation we are in at the moment and try to understand which are the directions in which we need to push into.”

In a bid to understand their lack of pace, Leclerc was fitted with the post-Barcelona configuration, while Sainz was using the older spec SF-24 (pre-Barcelona). Sainz did manage to sneak into Q3 but his ultimate pace is still a cause for concern as the likes of Red Bull, McLaren, and Mercedes look head-and-shoulders above the Prancing Horse.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
ferrari Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

Don’t miss these