Lewis Hamilton officially leaving Mercedes for Ferrari at the end of 2024 season

Sir Lewis Hamilton has reached a fork in the road, after a decade a Mercedes and seemingly unrelenting RedBull dominance - Hamilton will trade the silver arrows for Ferrari red in 2025

Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes for Ferrari at the end of the 2024 season after signing a multi-year contract with the Scuderia.

Hamilton, 39, is entering the first of a new two-year deal with Mercedes after signing a contract worth £100 million.

But it is understood the seven-time Formula One world champion is eligible to leave Mercedes at the end of the year.

Mercedes later issued a statement confirming Hamilton had activated the release clause in his contract and will leave at the end of the season.

Hamilton said: “I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I’m so proud of what we have achieved together. 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.

“But the time is right for me to take this step and I’m excited to be taking on a new challenge. I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family, especially Toto (Wolff) for his friendship and leadership and I want to finish on a high together.

“I am 100 per cent committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my last year with the Silver Arrows one to remember.”

Mercedes team principal Wolff added: “In terms of a team-driver pairing, our relationship with Lewis has become the most successful the sport has seen, and that’s something we can look back on with pride; 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’ decision to seek a fresh challenge, and our opportunities for the future are exciting to contemplate.

“But for now, we still have one season to go, and we are focused on going racing to deliver a strong 2024.”

The move ends an extraordinarily successful partnership. Hamilton won six of his world titles with Mercedes in the space of seven years from 2014-20.

However, the team have since fallen off the pace and Hamilton has not won a race since narrowly missing out on a record eighth world championship in 2021.

Hamilton will take on a vacancy likely made by Carlos Sainz, whose contract is due to expire at the end of the current year.

Ferrari's other driver, Charles Leclerc, recently agreed a new long-term deal.

It is not the first time Hamilton has been linked with Ferrari, with rumours of a potential move prior to him signing his most recent Mercedes contract last year.

Hamilton began his Formula One career with McLaren and won his first world title with them in 2008 before switching to Mercedes in 2013.

In terms of race wins, he is the most successful driver in the sport’s history with 103, 12 ahead of Michael Schumacher, with whom he shares the record for the most world titles.

The Formula One season begins on February 28 at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

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