Sebastian Vettel from Germany driving for Ferrari SF90 and Lewis Hamilton from Great Britain driving for Mercedes AMG F1 W10. Date: 21.09.2019. This event took place during the Formula 1 World Championship, Round 15, at the Singapore Grand Prix held at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on Qualifying Day.
Reports suggest that Ferrari is in favor of Lewis Hamilton not joining their Formula 1 team alone in 2025, in order to avoid the same mistake made when Sebastian Vettel made the switch. Vettel, who had won four consecutive titles with Red Bull from 2010, moved to Ferrari in 2015 with the hope of fulfilling a childhood dream and achieving success in the team’s iconic red livery. Despite securing 14 victories in five years, a combination of driver and team errors prevented Vettel from overcoming the dominance of Hamilton and Mercedes.
Hamilton, who will be the next established F1 champion to attempt to bring Ferrari back to the top, has announced that he will join the team at the beginning of the next season. While Vettel trusted the existing personnel at Ferrari during his move, there are rumors in the media that Hamilton will be accompanied by several trusted employees from Mercedes. According to Formu1a.uno, Hamilton has already decided that he “will not arrive alone” at Maranello, the headquarters of Ferrari.
Mercedes Performance Director Loic Serra had already agreed to transfer to Ferrari before Hamilton, and there are also links to Head of Trackside Performance Riccardo Musconi. Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has acknowledged the need for discussions regarding the future of Peter Bonnington, Hamilton’s long-serving race engineer. Ferrari aims to satisfy Hamilton as he pursues his eighth F1 title, which includes the possibility of welcoming personnel from Mercedes to the team.
During an appearance on the F1 Nation podcast, journalist Roberto Chinchero revealed that Ferrari boss Frederic Vassuer had discussed the prospect of Hamilton joining the team. Vassuer believes that Hamilton’s addition would attract the best engineers to the Maranello-based squad as they strive to catch up to Red Bull. Chinchero recounted Vassuer’s words, stating, “To have Lewis is something that helps you to have also the best engineers. If you have Lewis, it’s like a present card for the best engineers, a guy we are really pushing hard [for] now. And I think also from this point of view, it’s a very good deal for Ferrari.”
Hamilton exercised a break clause in his recent contract with Mercedes, signed in August, to finalize the deal with Ferrari. This move will result in Carlos Sainz, the current driver, being without a seat, but he has stated that his team is evaluating other available options.