Lewis Hamilton’s Move to Scuderia Ferrari: Mistimed and Leading to Disappointment or Strategic Move for the Future?

Noah Binkowski

Lewis Hamilton in the famous red of Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton is considered by some to be the greatest driver in Formula One history, with a dominant run in the mid-2010s with Mercedes and their incredible engineering. However, after controversially losing the 2021 title fight to, at the time, upstart Max Verstappen it seems as though Hamilton’s dominance in F1 may be coming to a close. Beyond being the second-oldest driver on the grid, Hamilton has expressed his displeasure at the current era of cars post-2020, commonly known as the “ground-effect” cars, which are large, unpredictable, and do not respond well to Hamilton’s notorious late braking technique, instead preferring a rounder brake-pressure pattern to cornering. Hamilton himself has come out and said that the cars are “really frustrating” to drive, and at times he has “sucked” in them. This all culminated in the beginning of the 2024 season when news leaked at the start of 2024 that this season would be the end of the massively successful partnership between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in favor of Hamilton’s move to Ferrari. While staying at the top of the grid each season, Hamilton had not been a true contender for a few years and was even beginning to lose the teammate battle to the younger George Russell. With Ferrari’s massive funding and just under five billion dollar valuation as a team, despite mediocre results as of recent years, it seemed they would be a prime team to join in preparation for the 2026 regulation changes that would shake up how teams had to design their cars.

Hope  was high entering the 2025 season, the last season before new regulations. However,  both Hamilton and his teammate, superstar driver Charles Leclerc, have struggled to replicate their past success. Hamilton’s only victory of the season has come in a sprint and besides that race, he has not even touched the podium. With the 2025 car having taken a significant step back from 2024, there was optimism for the new regulations next year, but Leclerc's comments have dispelled a lot of the hope surrounding this car. When speaking on his experience testing the virtual prototype of next year’s car, he described the car as “not the most enjoyable”. All this begs the question: was Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari a good, bad, or ill-timed move?

In my opinion, Hamilton’s move to Ferrari reeks of desperation to claim one more title and pass Schumacher for the most in history. Ferrari, despite their recent struggles, is still associated with winning. However, Mercedes has shown to be at the forefront of technological innovation in the sport, and recent rumors on their 2026 car have been promising. Hamilton clearly felt the window had closed on him in Mercedes and that the best shot for him to compete was to leave for Ferrari. This was likely due to his age, as he obviously had a limited amount of time left in the sport and likely an even more limited amount of time where he is capable of competing at the top level. A younger driver with more time might have stayed on at their current team and waited to see who came out on top with the new regulations and then made the move to switch. Instead, Hamilton saw an opening at Ferrari which had been quicker than Mercedes the year before, and figured that pace would carry over, which it clearly has not. All in all, this move has been largely disappointing for everyone involved and could leave a stain on the end of Hamilton's career. However, Lewis Hamilton is not considered the best of all time by many for no reason, and with the new cars as a whole shifting back to smaller, shiftier cars by design, it is entirely possible Hamilton could produce some vintage magic over the next few years and reclaim his position at the top of the F1 world. Ferrari may be faltering, but never count Lewis Hamilton out until he has left the sport for good.