The status factor that made Ferrari impossible for Hamilton to turn down

Frédéric Vasseur is an unlikely paradigm breaker at first glance. The Ferrari team principal’s somewhat grumpy resting facial expression soon gives way to a twinkling eye and a ready laugh; he’s Formula 1’s equivalent of Albert Le Blanc, the children’s story about the saddest-looking bear the other toys have ever seen who turns out to be a big roly-poly bundle of joy.

But Vasseur has steel beneath the warm, avuncular exterior. It has not always been apparent in his eight years in F1, managing the Renault, Sauber/Alfa Romeo and now Ferrari teams. But it certainly is now. The 55-year-old Frenchman is the key that unlocked the biggest driver move in F1 for a decade; perhaps even ever – Lewis Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari for 2025.

When Vasseur was asked what it was like delivering the bad news to Carlos Sainz, who
is now looking for a drive for next season, he said wryly: “It was not the easiest call of my
life. But the one that was most difficult was the one with Toto.” Vasseur and his opposite number at Mercedes are very close friends, who go back a long way.

Hamilton won with Vasseur’s team in both Formula 3 and GP2 before he graduated to F1, and the experience clearly made an impression. “We stayed in touch,” Hamilton said. “I thought he was going to be an amazing team manager at some stage and progress to F1, and it was really cool to see him step into the Alfa team. And when he got the job at Ferrari, I was just
so happy for him. It really wouldn’t have happened without him.”

This is seismic stuff. The most successful driver in F1 history joining the sport’s most storied team, both parties in the quest to return to the top.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, kicks up grass and dirt ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, VCARB 01, after a brief cut

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

Why Lewis lost faith with Mercedes

Hamilton wants to avenge what he perceives to be the injustice of Abu Dhabi 2021, when his eighth world title was snatched away from him as a direct result of race director Michael Masi’s decision to make up the rules as he went along in a late-race Safety Car period. Ferrari’s aim is to win a world championship for the first time since 2008, or 2007 if it’s the drivers’ title you care about most.

How did this come about? How was it that a matter of months after Hamilton had apparently committed his future to Mercedes by signing what was claimed at the time to be a two-year contract, he decided to jump ship to Maranello?

Hamilton says: “In summer, we signed and at that time I saw my future with Mercedes. But
an opportunity came up at the end of the year and I decided to take it.

“It was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make, I’ve been with Mercedes, I think it’s 26 years they have supported me. We have had an absolutely incredible journey and created history in the sport and I am very proud of what we achieved. But ultimately I am writing my story and I felt like it was time to start a new chapter.”

Hamilton’s faith and trust in Mercedes has been knocked in the past two years, and it started with the team’s reaction to its failure to get to grips with the new ground-effect regulations

The “opportunity” that came up was that Ferrari chairman John Elkann was made aware over the close season by a senior figure in F1, who must remain nameless, that Hamilton might be available. Elkann wasted no time in acting, and the deal came together in a matter of weeks.

For Ferrari, the move was a no-brainer. Both its drivers’ contracts were coming to their end
in 2024. The team was always going to keep Charles Leclerc – it still sees him as the long-term future of the team – but about Sainz there was more ambivalence. Not that it didn’t see
his qualities; just that it wanted time to be sure it wanted to keep him.

As the 2023 season came to an end, the original intention was to stick with Sainz. When Hamilton became available, though, Ferrari quickly changed tack.

As Vasseur puts it: “It’s a huge opportunity for the team. We are sure that he will bring us a decent step for the future.” Or in the words of Alpine driver Pierre Gasly, a close friend of Leclerc’s: “Carlos is a great driver; Lewis is a fantastic driver, best of all time. There was an opportunity on both sides and Ferrari and Lewis took it together.”

Hamilton's links to Vasseur got back to his F3 and GP2 days

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

On Hamilton’s side, a number of factors came together to make him go for the move, and they can be traced right back to 2022.

When Hamilton signed his new Mercedes deal last summer, he was talking – as he has done for a long time – as if he would be with the German marque for life. Together, they have been the most successful team-driver combination in F1 history, and he had a number of times mentioned his desire to follow in the footsteps of Stirling Moss and be an ambassador long
after his career was over.

But Hamilton’s faith and trust in Mercedes has been knocked in the past two years, and it started with the team’s reaction to its failure to get to grips with the new ground-effect regulations in 2022.

Mercedes went for a unique design that, in the virtual world, had so much downforce that it felt it was going to dominate the sport again. But, unlike Adrian Newey at Red Bull, it had failed to consider porpoising – a phenomenon that can affect cars with venturi underfloors if they are sucked too close to the ground and the airflow stalls, setting up a bouncing motion.

The downforce the Mercedes should have created in theory simply could not be accessed in reality. And through 2022 Hamilton pleaded with Mercedes to abandon the so-called ‘zero-sidepod’ philosophy, with its forward cockpit, and pursue Red Bull’s approach.

The team ignored him. The 2023 car was an updated version of the 2022 car, and Hamilton knew as soon as he drove it in the shakedown at Silverstone that Mercedes had got it wrong.
“I remember it feeling exactly the same, and that definitely was not a great feeling,” he said
in an interview at the end of 2023.

Hamilton recalls this saga in the latest series of Netflix’s Drive To Survive, saying: “They said: ‘We know what we’re doing, you’re wrong.’ Then we got into the season and we spoke again and they said: ‘Maybe you were right.’”

PLUS: Why Mercedes’ F1 struggles are different this time

But you didn’t need Netflix to know this was going on – even at the time, Hamilton was very clear about his frustrations with Mercedes at the start of 2023.

Belatedly, Mercedes did try to convert its 2023 car more towards a Red Bull-style approach, but its fundamental architecture acted as a limiting factor, so last season ended with an unanswered question – did Mercedes yet understand these new rules?

Despite their record-breaking success together, Hamilton appears to have lost faith in Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

The prize of the price tag

Meanwhile, Ferrari ended last year on a relative high, Leclerc taking three poles in the last five races, and it was the only team other than Red Bull to win a race in 2023, through Sainz in Singapore. On race pace, it still lagged well behind Red Bull, but there was no question that by the end of last season Ferrari had overtaken Mercedes, despite its slow start to the season, even if Mercedes just managed to hang on to second in the constructors’ championship.

Not only that, but Vasseur’s steadying hand was beginning to make an impact on the team’s race operations. This area was still far from perfect – had Leclerc stopped under the mid-race Safety Car in Las Vegas, he might have hung on for victory ahead of Max Verstappen – but the progress over the chaos of 2022, which was partly responsible for losing Vasseur’s predecessor Mattia Binotto his job, was clear.

Then there were Hamilton’s negotiations over a new Mercedes contract. It’s not that long since Hamilton, who was 39 in January, was saying he could not see himself being in F1 past 40, but he entered those discussions wanting a relatively long-term commitment.

Hamilton has been on a basic salary of about €40m at Mercedes for some time now, and as such has lost his status as the best-paid driver in F1 to Verstappen, who is said to be on at least €50m at Red Bull. Which is what Ferrari are believed to be paying Hamilton

Mercedes wasn’t so keen. Wolff was already looking to the future, and in particular to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, a 17-year-old Italian who has been on Mercedes’ young driver programme for some time, and who some already consider to be the next Verstappen. With Hamilton heading into his fifth decade, and Antonelli on the horizon, Wolff wanted to keep his options open.

In the end, they reached a compromise. What was said in the press release to be a two-year deal was in fact what is known as a “one-plus-one” – a one-year deal with an option for a second. It’s not completely clear whether both sides had the option to exit for 2025, but certainly Lewis did.

Ferrari was offering a much longer commitment. Hamilton’s new deal is said to be at least two firm years – so to the end of 2026 – and possibly even three. Not only that, but it’s more money. Hamilton has been on a basic salary of about €40m at Mercedes for some time now, and as such has lost his status as the best-paid driver in F1 to Verstappen, who is said to be on at least €50m at Red Bull. Which is what Ferrari are believed to be paying Hamilton.

There were several factors in play to convince Hamilton to switch to Ferrari

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

When drivers are earning this much, it’s not about the money itself – Hamilton has earned so much for so long that an extra €10m here and there is not going to change his life, surreal as it seems to say that. It’s about status, about perceived value. Essentially, Ferrari was saying it valued him more than Mercedes.

Put that all together – a belief that Ferrari’s car would be at least as fast as Mercedes’, a sense that his team had lost some faith in him, the lack of respect inherent in a feeling he was being used as a stop-gap, and the conviction Ferrari was offering – and the decision comes into focus.

And that’s before even considering the lure of the Ferrari name, which was also a factor.

“For every driver growing up,” Hamilton says, “watching history, watching Michael Schumacher in his prime, all of us see the driver in the red cockpit and you wonder what it would be like to be surrounded by red.

“You go to the Italian Grand Prix and you see the Ferrari fans. It is a team that has not had huge success since Michael’s day and 2007, and I saw it as a huge challenge. I’m really, really excited by it.”

Having shared great mutual respect, Leclerc and Hamilton now prepare to become team-mates

Photo by: John Toscano / Motorsport Images

Leclerc: Keep the faith

Charles Leclerc was kept fully in the loop through Ferrari’s negotiations with Lewis Hamilton. Leclerc’s new long-term contract with Ferrari was announced only a week or so before Hamilton’s move, and the 26-year-old says: “These kind of deals are not finalised overnight. It takes time and I was aware of those discussions before signing my deal so it didn’t come out as a surprise after signing.

“It was good the team was transparent [about Hamilton] but it didn’t change anything for me. More than anything, what made me sign for a longer contract was because I believe in the project and have the best chances to have the best car on the grid in the next years.”

Some have interpreted the move for Hamilton as a lack of faith in Leclerc. But Ferrari doesn’t see it that way. He is still its driver for the future.

In many ways Hamilton has most to lose. He’s the bigger name with the greatest-ever career stats. He’s expected to be team leader. But what if Leclerc is consistently faster?

The intention is for him to stay well beyond Hamilton’s time and Ferrari thinks having such an illustrious team-mate will be good for Leclerc, that he cannot help but learn from Hamilton and become a more complete driver as a result.

The potential dynamic is fascinating. Leclerc’s raw speed is not in doubt. He has 23 pole positions in 123 starts, a hit rate of 18.7% despite rarely having the best car. That speaks volumes, and many believe he could be the fastest driver in F1 over one lap.

Hamilton is no slouch himself, so the one-lap battle between them will be something to see.

Leclerc has ‘only’ five wins, but that ratio is more a reflection of a man outperforming his car’s limitations over one lap than the drivers’ weakness in races.

Leclerc has long been considered an F1 star, but his last grand prix victory came at the 2022 Austrian GP

Photo by: Ferrari

Nevertheless, Leclerc does still have things to learn. He could do with cutting down the errors, and reading a race and being proactive with the team is an area where Sainz has clearly had an edge.

PLUS: The tests Leclerc and Ferrari must pass before Hamilton's arrival

In many ways Hamilton has most to lose. He’s the bigger name with the greatest-ever career stats. He’s expected to be team leader. But what if Leclerc is consistently faster?

Vasseur will need all his management skills to keep it under control. At the same time, Hamilton and Leclerc is a line-up of formidable strength. If Ferrari can sort its car out, even Red Bull will be worried about what it could achieve.

Ferrari's team-mate dynamic of Hamilton and Leclerc will be a fascinating sub-plot to the British driver's move

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images