Kimi Räikkönen should no longer be Ferrari’s last world champion. Lewis Hamilton’s astonishing solution is a big deal for the entire F1 series, writes Urheilu’s Roope Visuri.
Roope Visuriruheluth reporter
The Formula 1 world was really startled on Friday. “Lewis Hamilton is moving to Ferrari”, reports, among other things, a highly trusted and traditional motorsport media Autosport.
Before that, the Italian Corriere della Sera had speculated on the transfer in the morning and made F1 fans amazed. Could this be true? Can you believe this, even though Autosport very rarely makes mistakes?
After Autosport and Sky Sports, many others also started reporting the same thing. British Broadcasting Corporation The BBC reported also about Mercedes’ reaction. The whole team had been invited to a meeting on Thursday afternoon.
Italian Gazzetta dello Sport by the solution was so quick that the Mercedes boss Toto Wolff led the speech and told about Hamilton’s surprise solution with a remote connection from abroad. Sky Sports seemed, how the Mercedes people came to the scene and then quickly left the factory after the meeting. The situation underlined the surprise of the whole thing.
Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has already been talked about many years before. There hasn’t really been a Silly season, the transfer window for F1 drivers, when this union hasn’t been brought up.
Now, however, it shook strongly and really properly. In a way never before seen in Hamilton’s Ferrari rumours. Normally, Silly season is not running at least at the beginning of February, but in the heat of summer and early autumn.
The shock transfer got its seal on Thursday at around 21:00 Finnish time. First, Mercedes said that Hamilton has used the cancellation clause in his contract and will move elsewhere after the 2024 season.
Ferrari then announced that Hamilton will transfer to Ferrari for the 2025 season with a multi-year contract.
Read more: Confirmation for the F1 giant bang! This is how Lewis Hamilton explains his departure to Ferrari
The transfer of the most successful F1 driver of all time to the most traditional formula team is shocking news.
Hamilton’s and Ferrari’s contract is a dream alliance that Liberty Media, the owner of the F1 series, certainly did not believe even in their wildest dreams. The actions of Hamilton and Ferrari open up huge commercial opportunities. Not only for Hamilton and Ferrari, but also for the whole series.
The F1 series had already had time to suffer with the problem of interest, when Red Bull and About Max Verstappen even became historically superior. Most of the competitions have been really predictable in recent years.
Although the F1 series has grown, the superiority of Red Bull and Max Verstappen would certainly have become a big threat to the interest of the royalty globally in the coming years.
Now Hamilton’s contract with Ferrari creates a whole new interest in the series.
The creators of Netflix’s F1 documentary series Drive to Survive must be rubbing their hands. How will Hamilton drive all 24 races for Mercedes this season, when he will move to a competitor next year? What happens behind the scenes? There are certainly plenty of topics to talk about.
Will Kimi Räikkönen’s ghost disappear?
Ferrari still has quite a long way to go to Red Bull, but now, according to many, the last dance of the toughest driver of all time is at hand. Hamilton’s lust should not be underestimated. For the British champion, 40 years is not an age that prevents winning.
The settings are interesting. In 2025, we are preparing for rule changes and new cars. In 2026, a historic eighth drivers’ championship. Last staple over Michael Schumacher number one of all time. Such a cinematic story is surely on the minds of many.
Then there is the other side of the coin Sebastian Vettel’s shaking. The German arrived at Ferrari after four championships and one underwhelming season from Red Bull in the mid-2010s. However, Ferrari did not wing Vettel as champion anymore, when Hamilton and Mercedes were stronger.
Expectations are certainly high in Maranello as well. It is frankly incomprehensible and for many Ferrari fans, tifosos, an embarrassing fact that Kimi Raikkonen is still Ferrari’s last driver’s world champion from 2007. After that came one more team championship, but otherwise it has been a really dry run at the mighty team.
Now, if ever, a Ferrari driver should become World Drivers’ Champion. For a long time, we haven’t seen a tougher driver duo in formula one than Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. The latter will certainly not be easy to hand over his scepter to Hamilton either.
Ferrari’s own son, academy-raised Leclerc will surely covet Hamilton’s scalp and bring the long-awaited championship to Maranello. Internal politics, which is an essential part of Ferrari’s operations, will certainly be seen.
The Italian media gets to forge delicious headlines. The transfer of the praised French boss and Lewis Hamilton, which was considered to be a hindrance by Frederic Vasseur skills can be properly measured.
All in all, Lewis Hamilton’s shock decision will give the royalty of motorsport the buzz it has needed after all the boring races.
I can hardly wait for this F1 treat. Quite a complete change to the mood of the last few years.