Mercedes held internal meeting today to tell staff about Lewis Hamilton exit
Lewis Hamilton has confirmed a move to Ferrari for 2025 F1 season
Mercedes held an internal meeting at 2pm on Thursday to tell staff that Lewis Hamilton was set to confirm a move to Ferrari.
Toto Wolff and James Alisson put out an internal message to call the team’s staff to a briefing where they were informed about the bombshell news.
Wolff joined the staff meeting remotely, Sky Sports' Rachel Brookes reported.
She reported while at Mercedes’ Brackley HQ: “We can confirm that Hamilton is going to Ferrari for the 2025 season.
“Staff at the Brackley base have been told that’s what is happening.
“The meeting lasted about 10 minutes or so.
“We saw the staff arriving and, within 10 to 14 minutes, they were leaving again.
“They were told that Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season.
“It is huge news throughout motorsport.
“He looked as though he’d end his career with the Mercedes team. They have backed him with his initiatives on-track and off-track.
“But he will be leaving to wear the red of Ferrari.
“He drives Ferraris around his home in Monaco and now he will drive the Ferrari Formula 1 car. Their launch is next week.”
The official announcement that Hamilton will join Ferrari in 2025 was made on Thursday evening.
Hamilton was strongly linked with Ferrari last season when he was in the final months of his Mercedes contract.
But after lengthy negotiations he opted to pen fresh terms with his current team. The contract was announced as lasting for two years, 2024 and 2025.
But it now he has activated a break clause after 2025.
He will team with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari next year, and replace Carlos Sainz.
Mercedes will be left with the immense void of having to replace Hamilton, alongside George Russell.
The seven-time F1 champion Hamilton's switch to the famous Italian brand will pair the sport's most accomplished driver with its most successful team.
He will be 40 years old by the time he eventually joins the Maranello-based outfit.
But first, Hamilton will enter this season - which is now set to be his last with Mercedes, the team he has won six of his seven championships with.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
