Lewis Hamilton is set to join Scuderia Ferrari in 2025. The Mercedes F1 team driver considers Hamilton’s departure as a positive move for the team. Hamilton recently announced that he will join Ferrari next season after spending 11 successful years with Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton has been a highly influential driver for Mercedes, winning six driver championships since his arrival in 2013. However, the 39-year-old driver has experienced a drop in performance since the end of the 2021 season, where he narrowly missed out on the world championship to another driver.
George Russell acknowledges the importance of Hamilton in the team’s rebuilding phase following the introduction of new regulations in 2022. However, Russell suggests that now that Mercedes is progressing in the right direction, it would be beneficial for the team to focus on a strategy that does not revolve solely around Hamilton.
Mercedes has had a challenging start to this season, but is undergoing a rebuilding and evaluating their race pace and car balance. They aim to address these issues before the upcoming races in order to regain a competitive position for the championship.
Toto Wolff, the head of the Mercedes team, addressed rumors of favoritism towards certain drivers. This response comes after Hamilton’s comments about Russell receiving preferential treatment during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Hamilton stated that Russell had an advantage over him due to the introduction of a new front wing, which improved his performance. Hamilton has been outperformed by Russell in seven out of the eight races this season.
In response, Toto Wolff clarified that both drivers have always been treated equally and that drivers may become skeptical when they don’t perform well. The upcoming races will test Russell and Hamilton’s skills to score points and achieve podiums, which have been scarce for the team this season.
