Lewis Hamilton had been with the McLaren team since he was 13 years old but at the end of 2012, he decided to move to Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton had been racing with McLaren since his karting days in 1998 when he was 13 years old. He went on to take a seat in F1 in a McLaren and spent five years with the team. However, at the end of the 2012 season, Hamilton decided to move on to Mercedes.
Many in the F1 community criticised his move as he was the youngest driver to win a world champion in 2008 at that time.
In an unearthed video of the British TV programme from 2013, British broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson asked Hamilton “isn’t moving from McLaren to Mercedes is a bit like moving from Manchester United to Westham?”
Hamilton said, “it’s a big change for me obviously and I’m really excited about it. Everyone is criticising and everyone has their own opinion but you know for me I’ve been in McLaren since I was 13. It was a long period there. I wanted to change, I am a risk-taker.”
Clarkson, further pointed out that McLaren has won 182 races and Mercedes had won one so how does the Briton think that it is a good idea to move to a mid-field team.
Hamilton admitted that the Mercedes had been struggling for the past few years but when the rules came out in 2009, everyone came out with the design of a car and every year after that it’s an evolution of that car and they started off with on the wrong foot and they’ve been on the wrong foot since then.”
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Lewis Hamilton wanted to help a struggling team like Michael Schumacher
Furthermore, Hamilton went on to explain that there were just so many good things about the decision he made.
He said, “The opportunity to go somewhere where the team is struggling and hopefully be a part of something that will get somewhere and will become great.”
“Michael did it years ago with Ferrari and there is no other driver that has done that. So I want to do something like that.”
Jeremy Clarkson’s interview with Lewis Hamilton when he left McLaren to join Mercedes. 10 years later, he’s a 7-time world champion (actually 8 but we will have that convo another day👍🏿) and is the GOAT. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do anything #StillWeRise pic.twitter.com/dxXJnUCGU0
— puff daddeh (@_kwekuboateng) April 7, 2022
Since 2014, Mercedes has dominated the sport and has won eight back to back constructors championships under the leadership of team principal Toto Wolff.
With Mercedes Hamilton equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of the most number of world drivers’ championships. The Briton has won seven drivers’ titles so far after he lost the 2021 championship to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
