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According to sources who should know, a Lewis Hamilton-to-Ferrari Formula 1 deal for 2025 is agreed.
The Race believes he will take the place of Carlos Sainz at Maranello alongside Charles Leclerc from next year and expects it to be confirmed in the next few days.
This will bring to an end an unprecedented partnership between Hamilton and Mercedes.
The 2024 season will be Hamilton’s 12th with AMG Mercedes F1 and all 17 seasons of his F1 career have been with Mercedes power.
Although he recently extended his contract with Mercedes for two years, it would now seem that the second year was an option on Hamilton’s side, leaving him free to accept the advances of John Elkann, the corporate boss of Ferrari.
Hamilton has in the past speculated that a stint at Ferrari would be a fitting way to end his career, but had since said he expected to remain with Mercedes until retirement.
Sainz is contracted at Ferrari only until the end of this year, which will be his fourth season there.
During his tenure at the Scuderia he has so far scored two grand prix victories and proved an effective team-mate to Leclerc, whose contract was recently extended for several years.
A Hamilton-Leclerc line-up at Ferrari is an exciting one for F1 itself off the back of an off-season in which not a single driver changed teams.
But it’s a bold move for Hamilton in competitive terms, with question marks around Ferrari’s ability to compete with Red Bull and in being measured at 40 years old directly against Leclerc, who is routinely cited as arguably the sport’s fastest driver over a single lap.
