SUMMARY
- Jacques Villeneuve gives his take as to why Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes.
- Lewis Hamilton follows a certain employee out of Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton has decided to leave Mercedes to drive for Ferrari. The Italian team has been a part of the sport since the beginning. There is no doubt that the Tifosi is the largest motorsport fanbase in the world, Now we will hear them sing Lewis’ name during the races.
For the past 11 years, there has been a 2-way trust between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. Together, they have won 8 Constructors’ Championships and Lewis has won 6 Drivers’ Championships. This trust went on til last year. However, now Hamilton seems to have lost faith in the team as he signs a multi-year contract with Ferrari worth hundreds of millions.
F1 Veteran thinks Lewis Hamilton does not believe in Mercedes
Former F1 Champion, Jacques Villeneuve thinks that Hamilton’s departure from the team hints to Mercedes’ downfall.
“Inside Mercedes, there is something wrong.
“Lewis no longer believes in the engineers, he no longer believes in Toto.
“The team, after all the space and freedom they gave him, didn’t expect such a farewell. It was Mercedes that created Hamilton’s image. They believed he would remain an ambassador for life.”
🗣️ Jacques Villeneuve: “Mercedes’te yanlış giden bir şeyler var. Lewis artık mühendislere ve Toto’ya inanmıyor.” pic.twitter.com/eDk5TWg8jB
— Motorsport Türkiye (@motorsportcomtr) February 4, 2024
Villeneuve thinks that Hamilton was not happy with the direction the team was taking in terms of developments. This prompted him to look at his options for the future. At the end of the day, Lewis wants to win that record-breaking 8th Championship before he retires from the sport.
Hamilton is currently 39 years old. His contract with Ferrari will go on until the end of the 2027 season. Despite his age, he has been performing well for the team. In 2023, he drove his Mercedes to finish 3rd place in the Championship. There is no doubt that he currently has the pace to be world champion again. But the question is, how much longer can he go?
The moment Lewis Hamilton lost hope in Mercedes
In the last 2 years, Mercedes has not been able to deliver a competitive car for Lewis Hamilton. The British driver has often criticized the team for not taking his input seriously. It has been reported that the team repeated this mistake this year as well.
Loic Serra, the team’s Head of Vehicle Performance apparently agreed with Hamilton’s inputs on this. However, their suggestions were not taken seriously by the team. In 2023, it was announced that Serra would be leaving Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025.
🚨 | Loic Serra’s departure has played a key role in Hamilton’s decision.
Serra was the Head of Vehicle Performance at Mercedes before being poached by Ferrari for the 2025 season.
Both Serra and Hamilton were aligned with their concerns about the 2022-spec car.#F1 pic.twitter.com/62xXQfjpEA
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) February 1, 2024
It is said that this was one of the key reasons Lewis decided to join Ferrari. Serra and Hamilton will be hoping that Ferrari agrees with their inputs and implements their suggestions onto the car. From the looks of it, it seems as though there will be a few more Mercedes employees wearing a red shirt from 2025. It has been reported that Hamilton is trying to convince his race engineer, Bono to join him at Ferrari.
It will be interesting to see what happens between Mercedes and Ferrari in the coming weeks and months. There is no doubt that there will be some activity among their employees. Let’s wait and see how everything turns out.