After a successful partnership with Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton will be moving on to a fresh chapter of his life at Ferrari in 2025. While he did win six of his seven world titles with the Brackley outfit, the Briton also witnessed arguably the worst moment of his F1 career with them — missing out on his record eighth championship in 2021. Three years on from that heartbreak, Hamilton is at peace.
In a recent interview snippet doing the rounds on Twitter (now X), Hamilton mentioned that he wishes to recall and remember the good memories he created with Mercedes and has no regrets about the setbacks, including his eighth title. He deemed his relationship with the Silver Arrows “the most successful partnership in history”.
“We created history together. I don’t look at what we wish we did more. Because there is literally no more we could have done”, the seven-time world champion added.
Is there a part of you that wishes you got that record-breaking 8th title here, with Mercedes?
Sir Lewis Hamilton : pic.twitter.com/OTXLv0qkhf
— sim (@sim3744) November 29, 2024
It was indeed an iconic partnership between Hamilton and Mercedes that ruled the sport for almost eight years. The #44 driver often cruised to the championship from 2014 to 2020 with little fight from the likes of Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, and Valtteri Bottas.
Mercedes deserves a lot of credit for providing him with the best machinery throughout the turbo-hybrid era. Moreover, Hamilton’s relationship with the team’s sponsors and his personal equation with Toto Wolff suggested that the Briton would retire from F1 at Brackley itself.
However, the ground effect era proved to be the twist in the tale with Mercedes dropping the ball on its performance, much to Hamilton’s dismay. While he may not admit it, the loss in 2021 and the subsequent drop in the team’s form have most likely been one of the key factors behind his decision to leave Mercedes with hopes of better prospects at Ferrari.
Can Hamilton fulfill his eighth title quest at Ferrari?
There has been immense talk about Hamilton looking to win his eighth championship with Ferrari. Many feel that Ferrari have a good foundation to emerge as the the title contender in the next two seasons. However, they still have to deliver on that promise, as the Italian outfit has often flattered to deceive in recent years.
Nevertheless, if they can finally produce a consistently quick car for 2025, Hamilton will leave no stone unturned to challenge for that record-eighth title. Naturally, he has to go up against Charles Leclerc, a driver who Ferrari has backed a lot ever since his first foray into F1 in 2018.
So, Leclerc will also be super competitive as he would hope to prove his mettle against a veteran like Hamilton. Hence, at the age of 40, the British driver will have to be at his very best to defy Leclerc and come out on top.
