It’s official, Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes F1 after 11 seasons and 6 Drivers World Championships and heading to Ferrari. When I woke up this morning, I was greeted with a cheeky text from a friend about his departure. I thought, “No way, its just rumors and the media getting riled up because it’s the offseason”. Boy was I wrong; News outlet after news outlet it became extremely apparent that this was happening. And now, I am going to have to do the unthinkable, I am going to have to become a Ferrari fan. 

Following Lewis since my first day watching Formula 1 back in 2013, he has been an idol and one of the reasons I am still watching the sport today. While others complained his dominance was boring, I was enjoying every second of it. Up until recently, things have been great as a fan. But lately, the Mercedes team has not been performing up to their normal standards. Things have been improving, but over the last few seasons, Lewis’ complaints about the car were starting to sound much more substantiated than emotional. With this shocking decision solidified and confirmed by Mercedes, it’s not hard to see why Lewis would leave, the surprising part to me was the “why now?” Why stick with Mercedes through the bad times and leave as they are improving? My hunch is that there is a lot more going on under the surface at Mercedes and Lewis does not want to be a part of that. It is pure speculation but with the recent departures of a few key individuals from his victorious past, the culture surely would have changed. That on its own isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it could explain why Lewis would feel the need to jump ship. 

Having said all of that, there also is the ever-powerful draw that Ferrari has. It has always seemed weird to me from an outsider’s perspective, but ALL drivers want to race for Ferrari. Most of the greats have and all of the grid wants to. The interesting thing when you think about it is that aside from Micheal Schumacher, most of the greats have raced at Ferrari because they were great and not that they were great because they raced at Ferrari. Looking at Prost, Vettel, Alonso and now Hamilton, they all had already won championships before Ferrari and not after. Being a Ferrari driver seems to be one of the Formula 1 milestones that is on par with a First Race Win or a World Championship. Lewis will undoubtedly be looking for his 8th title as he most likely feels that ship has sailed at Mercedes. Or maybe he is looking to live out his childhood dream and race for the Tifosi in his red overalls, either way, the team switch is happening and Lewis’s last season at Mercedes is upon us.

This begs the question, who will replace Lewis at Mercedes? I think this is a fairly easy answer considering there are not a lot of options at this point. What I think would make the most sense for the future of the team is to promote Alex Albon. Albon has been on fire at Williams and has shown huge growth since his short stint at Red Bull. Mercedes already having a good relationship with Williams would make this an easy swap as well. The other obvious option would be to sign Carlos Sainz as he is now out of a seat next year with Lewis swooping in. Sainz is a decent and consistent driver and would be good to keep points at Mercedes, however, in my opinion, he isn’t exactly an exciting driver. I feel the same about George Russell and having 2 unexciting points-focused drivers isn’t going to sell a ton of merch. Sainz would by no means be a bad choice, he just may not be the best choice. The last option and it’s a bit of a dark horse would be to sign Fernando Alonso. He is the best choice for race wins right now. With his age, I believe Alonso has a short time left in F1 and he has shown is hungry for wins. This may benefit Mercedes in the short term while they plan for their future lineup. Signing Alonso would also be a bit of a slap in the face toward Lewis as he has a history of bad blood with Alonso. I wouldn’t expect Mercedes to be motivated by that, but it wouldn’t surprise me either.

All of this is guessing and speculation as they don’t call the offseason Silly Season for nothing. We will need to wait for the cards to fall before we see what is going to happen with all of the driver changes. You never know, another major driver could swap again and make even more waves as we roll into the 2024 season. All I can do is hope Lewis finds what he is looking for at Ferrari and even more so wins his 8th championship. He is a legendary driver and if any one deserves to break Schumacher’s record, its Lewis. And to that, I say “Forza Ferrari!”