Lewis Hamilton’s last three seasons at Mercedes were arguably the toughest of his F1 career — two of which saw him go winless. Naturally, it took a hit on his motivation, especially because it followed a golden era of success when for seven to eight years, he was close to unbeatable.
Mercedes’ lack of competitive machinery with the onset of the ground-effect era in 2022 frustrated Hamilton to the core. So much so that he exercised the exit clause in his 2023-signed contract, even before the 2024 season began. It paved the way for a highly anticipated switch to Ferrari for the seven-time World Champion.
James Allen recently spoke about the same, highlighting Hamilton’s mental state leading up to his departure. “His time at Mercedes, I don’t want to say, he grew stale, but he certainly got very disillusioned, I think, with life at Mercedes,” Allen said in a conversation with Autosport.
“I think that he needed this change for motivation. He was kind of going through the motions. But he has always had that motivation to turn up and deliver and do as best as he can,” he added.
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Going winless for nearly a thousand days between 2022 and 2024 was an unwelcome chapter in Hamilton’s otherwise illustrious career. He was always vocal about what needed to change, but Mercedes’ engineering team did not listen to his feedback, especially in 2023.
Although Hamilton did not cite the issues at Mercedes as the primary reason for his departure, it is understandable why he would seek a fresh start. After 12 years with the Silver Arrows, the Briton holds deep respect and gratitude for the team. However, as Allen noted, he needed this change to feel ‘re-energized’ in his career.
Did Mercedes make Hamilton feel unwanted in recent years?
The instances of Hamilton’s feedback about the car not being implemented indicated that the atmosphere at Mercedes had changed since their dominant years before 2021. Hamilton may have felt that the Brackley-based team wasn’t fully committed to him for the long term, especially when they offered him just a 1+1 year contract extension in mid-2023.
On the other hand, Ferrari had been reportedly chasing Hamilton’s signature for several months but were unsuccessful. However, when the Briton thought about his career situation in the last winter break, the floodgates opened for the Scuderia and things fell into place for a blockbuster signing of Hamilton.
Mercedes wanted to keep their options open to bring in young talent Kimi Antonelli, who had been making waves in the junior formulas. This arrangement worked well for Hamilton, as the Brackley team had a ready replacement, allowing him to move on to a new chapter in his F1 career.
