Despite the persistent rumors in recent years about Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari, his official confirmation for signing up for the Prancing Horse at the start of 2024 was a huge shock to the entire F1 world. The Briton secured a multi-year deal with Ferrari for 2025 and beyond, which ended his longstanding relationship with Mercedes — something Ted Kravitz had predicted seven years ago.
Sky Sports F1 posted an old clip from 2017 on Instagram that shows Kravitz’s prediction of Hamilton joining Ferrari on a panel beside ex-McLaren mechanic, Marc Priestley. While Priestley opined that the #44 driver would end his F1 career at Mercedes, Kravitz firmly stated, “He cares more about Ferrari than you think.”
“I think another two or three years with Mercedes. So that would be [championship number] four, five, six? Another two with Mercedes [after 2017] and then he’ll go and join Ferrari once Vettel goes off.”, he said.
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The Sky Sports F1 presenter was off with the timing of the potential Ferrari switch for Hamilton but wasn’t wrong about the eventuality. Back then, Sebastian Vettel was Ferrari’s lead driver with a multi-year deal expiring in 2020. There were rumors of the Italian outfit approaching Hamilton to come on board in 2019-20.
But the Briton was keen on staying at Mercedes, as they were the class of the field at that time. Nevertheless, Kravitz’s prophecy has materialized into reality as Hamilton finally gave in to Ferrari‘s advances to sign up with them for 2025.
He stated that driving for Ferrari was a dream for him since his childhood days. With his quest to secure his eighth world title, it would be interesting to see if Hamilton can make good of this switch that has been deemed as arguably the biggest driver transfer in F1 history.
Has Hamilton still got the ingredients to win for Ferrari?
When Hamilton makes his first race start for Ferrari in 2025, he will be 40 years old. From the modern-day standards in F1, many drivers start to fall behind their prime form at this age. However, drivers like Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have defied this notion.
Hamilton, in particular, has shown that he can still deliver race-winning performances if his team can provide him with a quick enough car. In 2024, Mercedes did not have a consistently fast package. But whenever they did, Hamilton was up at the front to make the most of it. At Ferrari, he would want to carry on with the same.
In all likelihood, this multi-year deal with the Maranello outfit could be his last F1 contract. Per the reported details of his contract, Hamilton is set to race for the Ferrari until the end of the 2026 season with an option to extend for 2027.
So, this could be the endgame for the seven-time world champion to secure his record-breaking eighth title and break the Italian team’s longstanding title drought. With the way Ferrari has ended 2024, they seem one of the favorites to clinch both championships next season.
However, Hamilton will have to tackle a lot of competition if he wishes to clinch the title in his first-ever season in Rosso Corsa. McLaren will naturally be the benchmark team, and Red Bull — in Max Verstappen’s hands — will somehow manage to stay in title contention. On top of that, the Briton’s own teammate, Charles Leclerc is not going to sit back as a wingman.
