Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have a mountain to climb. Image: @fiagirly/X
Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes chapter isn’t finished
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton insists he remains fully committed to the Mercedes cause this season.
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have a mountain to climb. Image: @fiagirly/X
Lewis Hamilton says that he remains fully committed to the Mercedes cause this season.
Hamilton announced a high-profile move to Ferrari earlier this year.
Lewis Hamilton still has a job to do at Mercedes
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However the seven-time F1 world champion still has a year left on his Mercedes deal.
Hamilton is proud of what he achieved at Mercedes.
“An opportunity came up in the New Year and I decided to take it,” Hamilton said, describing the choice to flip to Ferrari as the hardest he’s had to make.
“We have had an incredible journey together, created history within the sport and it is something I take a lot of pride in.
“This chapter is still not finished and I am still 100 percent focused on delivering for this team,” he insisted Friday.
Awkward times
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has predicted that things will be awkward for Hamilton in 2024.
“For the rest of the year, I would say it’s a little bit awkward,” said Verstappen.
“It’s not like they are suddenly enemies. He has achieved so many great things with them. They are still behind him, and for sure he has a great relationship with everyone, especially (Mercedes team principal) Toto (Wolff).”
Verstappen believes there will come a time when Hamilton is frozen out of the inner circle at Mercedes.
“He knows at one point, and Toto for sure will tell him: ‘Look, I know we’ve had all this success, but you can’t be part of certain meetings any more’.
“That is normal in F1. It’s probably a bit weird. But you are professional enough to deal with that. And once he’s sitting in the car, they will of course go flat out for him.”
Verstappen believes that Ferrari and Hamilton had their hand forced on making the announcement.
“It must have been leaked to announce something that big that early in the season,” he said.
“Him going to Ferrari is not really shocking. It’s not a surprise they were talking. I just think the announcement was a bit rushed.”
