Lewis Hamilton has revealed how the offer to join Ferrari in the winter ‘turned everything upside down’ for him.
Hamilton had agreed to extend his contract with Mercedes halfway through last season in a deal that would have kept him at the team until the end of the 2025 season.
But just weeks before the start of the 2024 campaign, after several rumours and speculation going around, it was announced that the seven-time world champion would be joining Ferrari at the end of the year on a multi-year contract.
The shocking move marks the end of Hamilton’s partnership with Mercedes which has spanned since he debuted in F1 with his Mercedes-powered McLaren and has seen him claim six of his seven world championships with the constructor.
Lewis Hamilton will join Ferrari in 2025The move marks the end of Hamilton's partnership with Mercedes that spans since he debuted in 2007The Brit is determined to leave Mercedes on a high note
Hamilton opens up on difficult winter
Speaking at the driver press conference ahead of the opening race of the season in Bahrain, the 39-year-old opened up on what was a ‘difficult’ winter and how the Ferrari move came about.
“It was a difficult winter I would say and a very unusual one,” he said.
“Just a lot of deep thought throughout December, obviously things going on with management which is taking a lot of time to reshape and that’s never an easy process.
“But it’s all amicable and now just working on rebuilding my own team. I have loads to things that I want to do and I know exactly what I want to do so it’s about finding good people to add into your team, making sure that it’s diverse and so that’s always at the heart of what I try to put in place.
“And then January, everything kind of turned upside down in terms of when the option came. A lot of time alone trying to make sure that you’re doing your due diligence and you’re making the right decision for yourself.
“And I feel like I’ve made the right decision, I’m excited."
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