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Topics: Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1, Sport
Joe Harker
Topics: Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1, Sport
By now Formula One fans pretty much all know that Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes and next year he'll be racing for Ferrari.
He'd signed a new deal with Mercedes last year but that contained an exit clause which he's now going to use to skedaddle.
The move is a major shake-up to the F1 standings and we'll have to get used to the idea of Lewis in a red car, as well seeing what Ferrari have cooked up to entice him.
It's been something of a rocky road for Hamilton in the past two F1 seasons as he's won the sum total of zero races, whereas in his previous nine seasons with Mercedes he's always ended up winning at least once.
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Barring his first year with the team where he only won once, his lowest number of victories had been in the 2021 season, where he secured eight first place finishes.
In the last couple of years with Mercedes, Hamilton has gone from a driver who was winning his races almost half the time, to one who hasn't won at all.
Speaking out for the first time since his move was announced, Hamilton said the days surrounding the news that he was heading for Ferrari had been 'filled with a whole range of emotions'.
He said he was 'incredibly fortunate' to do the things he'd done with Mercedes but racing for Ferrari was the fulfilment of a 'childhood dream'.
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However, one man not buying into the idea is former racing driver turned pundit Martin Brundle, who told the Sky Sports F1 Podcast he was pretty sceptical of Hamilton's view of his final season.
He said: "I don't buy all of this, 'It's going to be emotional leaving', Lewis is a winning machine and that's what he wants to do.
"It's a good contract, he'll be paid a lot of money, get a lot of love and it will be one of global sport's biggest stories in 2025.
"The teams are slightly disingenuous when they tell you about new contract signings because they only tell you edited highlights that suit them.
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"Clearly, they forgot to mention that Hamilton had an exit clause, which he has chosen to take very early indeed. F1 contracts can be up to 100 pages but often there is an exit clause, or a performance-related clause included."
That all may be true but Hamilton is still leaving a team he's been with for over a decade, it'd be understandable for him to have some emotions over parting ways with them.