[BharathXUV700]

This was a huge shocker. I first saw the news yesterday when a few F1 enthusiasts on thier youtube channels were giving thier reviews on this shock news.

I have been a long time Ferrari fan and i personally am delighted and cautiously optimistic. I do forsee friction between Charles and Lewis when they are going to be competing aginst each other as much as against others. But i have always beleived you need the best talent and no question that Lewis is one of the best in the current generation. So, from that perspective i am excited to see what he can do.

I think with this pairing, Ferrari has the best driver lineup hands down come 2025.

Waiting to see whats possible when the words "Hammertime" come from the Ferrari pit radio.

From Ferrari's perspective, i think it is a win. Their stock value has gone up by 7 Billion USD from the news breaking out. Clearly shareholders think it is the right move. Also, like someone pointed above, business wise they will milk it as best as possible through merchandise sales and sponsor tie ups.

From Lewis's perspective, he must have inside info on how the Mercedes cars are being developed. What the wind tunnel and simulations are telling. He is 39 years old. I am assuming he knew he has only a few more years left and he has already had an iconic association with Mercedes. So, why not try to finish his career with another iconic brand.

[Formula1Fan]

Hamilton moving to Ferrari is a great win for Ferrari, this is the same as Schumi's move in 1995-96, he will bring in aspects which are absolutely proven and have worked with Mercedes along with car development which is an area Lewis has always been influential. I don't think moving of Serra would have such big impact, Mercedes also lost important pillars in the past who were instrumental in developing championship winning cars in 2014 & 2015, like Aldo Costa, Bob Bell & Andy Cowell, some of them are still working with competitors. Bigger win for Ferrari is going to be the personnel Lewis will bring from Mercedes, "Bono", Peter Bonnington, his race engineer will definitely come over. And others will follow, I hope there are re enforcement's in the strategy area.

[StarrySky]

I see this more as a deal due to commercial/marketing interests than a sporting move.

There is no guarantee Ferrari will become contenders in 2025 or even with the changing regulations in 2026. Likewise, there is no telling if Mercedes will continue to have issues in the future as well. For all we know, McLaren may be the car to beat in the next few years.

From Ferrari's perspective, they can align with the Lewis brand, and if Ferrari is his last team, that association is likely forever - at least in people's minds. And, they get to weaken the Mercedes driver pairing.

From Lewis' perspective, aligning with the arguably the most prestigious brand in F1 can only help his own brand, especially as he enters the final few years of his career. He is setting himself up for post-retirement commercial deals.

If Ferrari produce a title contender and Lewis can get that 8th title, it's a huge bonus and would further increase the marketing value of this deal many times. If Lewis wins the title in 2024, Ferrari might even get to stick #1 on their car in 2025

The danger for Ferrari is that they produce a dud, and then the whole legion of Lewis fans turn against them. Worse still, if Lewis then leaves the team less than amicably, it will become a PR disaster.

The danger for Lewis is that he gets beaten by Charles. But it's ok, he will still be a 7-time WDC, and his fans will debate if Charles would/could have beaten Lewis in his prime.

I think the comparisons to Schumacher's move are off by a long way. Schumacher joined in an era with no cost cap, when Ferrari could test on the track as much as they wanted in their own backyard. If Ferrari cannot produce a title contender even with the new regulations in 2026, I don't think Lewis will stick around.

Originally Posted by BharathXUV700

Their stock value has gone up by 7 Billion USD from the news breaking out.

Their stock value went up as they declared their financial results for 2023 yesterday, with a strong orderbook and also forecast increasing sales in the coming year.

[McLaren Rulez]

Luigi Amilton!

I hope for his sake that Bono and some Merc strategists go with him. Otherwise, it will be hilarious watching Ferrari put him on wet tyres on a bone dry track and go, "Slow button on, question?"

[SidTheChamp]

Well Hamilton has nothing to lose. He has 100+ wins and 7 WDC in his pocket. So even if the Ferrari move fails, he can bear it.

On the other hand, if he succeeds with Ferrari, his legendary status will rise even further. Winning with a 3rd different team other than McLaren and Mercedes would be enormous. And yes Ferrari is the dream destination for almost all top F1 drivers.

Would this change do good for him. I'm not so sure.
Because he has been throughout with Britain based teams with British personnel.
Now moving to Italy with change in language and culture, how much he would be able to influence I'm not so sure.
Would be interesting.

[myavu]

Yesterday I was super busy at the office and didn't check X as usual. After reaching home, I was casually checking X, and this made me and felt like the whole X was discussing this only.

Coming back to the point: Being a Lewis fan, I am super excited.

After the 2021 AD fiasco, I believe Merc and Toto didn't handle the outcome properly. If it were RB or Ferrari in similar shoes, they would have gone to the extremes to support their star driver. Merc as a team post 2021 is not even a shadow of what they were in between 2013 and 2022: failed car concepts, 3 to 4 sec pit tops, nobody to celebrate podium ceremonies along with Lewis, Toto radioing "Lewis, we know the car is a ****, please drive it," etc.

There is a huge hope in the name of James Allison, who was busy building boats then. But he himself is a bit skeptical about the ground-effect rule and ride heights. But W15 will be his first car in this new ground-effect era, and we have to wait and watch for its fortunes.

Lewis has nothing to prove in this sport now. Whatever he achieves now will be an add-on to his legacy.

I also believe that he's the only one who can fight Max with his own terms, 'You crash, I crash mentality' (2022 Sao Paulo GP crash).

I hope Lewis can win at least one GP this year and follow Plan A to Plan H (Hammer Time) next year successfully.

I honestly wish Peter Bonnington (Bono) would switch along with him.

Back in May 2023, there was a rumor regarding this epic switch.

[GTO]

All I can say is, F1 viewership just doubled for 2025! Now I can't wait and wish it was in 2024 itself . If someone like Fonso gets his Mercedes seat (unlikely?), F1 viewership will like triple!

Remember, in the golden days of F1, it was all about the famous personalities. It's coming back. Hamilton in a Ferrari is great for the sport.

[rmz1088]

Originally Posted by GTO

All I can say is, F1 viewership just doubled for 2025! Now I can't wait and wish it was in 2024 itself . If someone like Fonso gets his Mercedes seat (unlikely?), F1 viewership will like triple!.

They've managed to create a huge wave of excitement. But if Max Verstappen and Redbull's dominance continues, the wave will die down in couple of months. The fight always has to be for the Championship!(read repeat of 2021 season) And like you've mentioned add Mr. Fernando to the mix to spice things up
Ferrari better pull up their socks and give Lewis a car he deserves.

[da_lowrider]

Originally Posted by V0id2003

Lewis is incredibly lucky though, he has almost always been behind the wheel of a race winning car.

Is it really luck though? In a super elitist sport, where even money and sponsorship will only get you a 'pay seat' at a back marker or mid level team, can luck get you into a top team?

Lewis got into Mclaren because he was identified as a generational talent in the lower formulas.
I doubt any stars aligning made Nikki Lauda and Wolff chase him to replace Schumacher after winning just one championship at Mclaren. Also, ditching Mclaren while they were contenders to go to Mercedes seems more a calculated risk because of what the team has promised, rather than luck; similar to Schumacher moving from Benetton to Ferrari.

Originally Posted by V0id2003

Also should Alonso stay at Aston or move to Merc , he definitely doesn't have Lewis' luck. I don't know what's the best option for him.

Alonso - IMO - has been the victim of poorish choices and his own politics to be fair. Mclaren's release clause after 2008' drama put Ferrari out of his grasp for the next season. He himself for all his racecraft on-track, was conservative in choices off it.When Honda and RBR chased him, he baulked at taking a chance. Mercedes wouldn't touch him.

To be fair, his run at Ferrari and his second stint at Mclaren were the period when he was unlucky with the car. Should Alonso have won more titles - undoubtedly, he is a modern day great, and would make it to the top 5 - if not the top 3 - of F1 drivers to have raced in this century.

[OrangeCar]

Hamilton in Ferrari. Max in Red Bull. Alex Albon in Mercedes (I hope). And McLaren with two good drivers (Piastri and Norris). All that would be needed is good cars from all teams. We would have a cracker of a season!

[V0id2003]

Originally Posted by da_lowrider

Is it really luck though? In a super elitist sport, where even money and sponsorship will only get you a 'pay seat' at a back marker or mid level team, can luck get you into a top team?

I think you misunderstood me. I meant that everytime he has made a move the car has been decent. I wasn't talking about top teams. Even top teams drop the ball sometimes , but it has never happened with Lewis.

Lets not forgot that in 2007 Hamilton had a lot more experience on Bridgestones compared to Alonso or Kimi. It took both of them 6-7 races to get used to the completely different driving style of the bridgestones, Lewis had a wealth of experience with them as they were the tyre of choice in GP2

Also Kimi has been unlucky, I hope you'll agree that he was also considered a generational talent at McLaren , but the poor reliability of the merc engine let him down. But when Lewis joined in 2007 , the merc V8 was rock solid and Kimi's Ferrari ended up with reliability issues that year , mainly pertaining to the hydraulics.

Just look at the stats regarding the Kimi's race retirements at McLaren and how many times he had to run 3-4 laps extra fuel during quali because he had an engine penalty and was starting at the back. He always had pace to steal pole even with an underwhelming car. The man almost beat prime Schumacher with an unreliable, outdated 2003 McLaren but no one remembers it right? That is what bad luck means



I have attached some stats for you below -

[rx100]

It’s a great news for Tiffosis and general F1 fans. It’s interesting to see how Ferrari who always have a #1 driver policy deals with Charles and Lewis next year.

Like I mentioned in F1 2024 thread, this situation is similar to Fernando’s move to McLaren in 2007 with the news came out well in advance before the 2006 season. Although Fernando won 2006, he was at loggerheads with Renault on favoritism towards Giancarlo.
Now it’s interesting to see Lewis Merc 2024 and looking forward to 2025 already.

Originally Posted by V0id2003

Just look at the stats regarding the Kimi's race retirements at McLaren and how many times he had to run 3-4 laps extra fuel during quali because he had an engine penalty and was starting at the back.

Ah, please don’t remind me again those heart wrenching seasons as a Kimi fan.

[volkman10]

Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff said that he British driver Lewis Hamilton at breakfast surprised by announcing he was leaving the team Formula 1 and move to Ferrari.

Wolf said he heard rumors that Hamilton might leave, but that he didn't know for sure until he confirmed it sevenfold The Formula 1 world champion meet on Wednesday.

The surprise was that I heard rumors for a few days I wanted to wait for the breakfast we had planned for Wednesday morning. He "Then he broke the news,"

Hamilton extended his contract with Mercedes last summer. two more years, until the end of 2025, but will leave the team a year earlier after he activated the release clause.

Wolf said the fact that Hamilton was looking for a new challenge It's no surprise, but the timing is. He suggested that the 39-year-old Hamilton may be "gamble" looking for another chance to win the title, but He added that Mercedes fully respects the fact that someone can change their mind.

Hamilton extended his contract with Mercedes last summer. two more years, until the end of 2025, but will leave the team a year earlier after he activated the release clause.

Mercedes now has time to decide on a new driver who will To be a partner to George Russell for the 2025 season, Wolff added.

Link:

[deovrat]

Does anyone know if the driver salaries are counted under the budget cap that every team has to work under? Or does individual sponsorship that a driver brings, can offset their salary?

Very curious as to see a team can juggle paying 2 of the highest salaried drivers and having enough budget left for development of the car itself.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by deovrat

Does anyone know if the driver salaries are counted under the budget cap that every team has to work under? Or does individual sponsorship that a driver brings, can offset their salary?

Very curious as to see a team can juggle paying 2 of the highest salaried drivers and having enough budget left for development of the car itself.

Driver salaries and even some management is excluded from the budget cap.