The Mercedes-AMG F1 team has confirmed that it has ended its 17-year-long relationship with Formula one great Lewis Hamilton.
This after news broke on Thursday that Hamilton will leave the team at the end of this season. The seven-time Formula One world champion will join Ferrari for the 2025 season. He will partner with the current Italian team driver, Charles Leclerc.
“The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team and Lewis Hamilton will part ways at the end of the 2024 season. Lewis has activated a release option in the contract announced last August and this season will therefore be his last driving for the Silver Arrows. The news brings an end to what is currently a 17-year long relationship in F1 with Mercedes-Benz and an 11-year long partnership with the works team,” read a statement from Mercedes.
Mercedes Team Principal and CEO, Toto Wolff, thanked the Briton for helping the team win most races, pole positions and podium finishes in the history of F1. He said the partnership between the team and Hamilton has been like no other and hopes for more wins for the remainder of the season.
“Lewis will always be an important part of Mercedes motorsport history. However, we knew our partnership would come to a natural end at some point, and that day has now come. We accept Lewis’s decision to seek a fresh challenge, and our opportunities for the future are exciting to contemplate,” said Wolff.
For his part, Hamilton described his stay at Mercedes as the most amazing, adding that this is the right time to take another step in his career and face a new challenge.
“Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old. It’s a place where I have grown up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family, especially Toto for his friendship and leadership and I want to finish on a high together. I am 100% committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my last year with the Silver Arrows, one to remember,” explained Hamilton.
The 39-year-old Briton finished sixth in the drivers’ standings in 2022 and third in 2023, and last won a title in 2020.
Meanwhile, the Italian team has confirmed that Hamilton will join the Maranello-based team in the next season.
“Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract,” read a statement from the team.
