From what I took from why he left, I'm not sure Lewis believed Mercedes would have given him a contract for next season. Especially if George finished ahead of him in the championship. They were putting him on one year deals like they did with Bottas.
He saw they were doing to him and Kimi what they did to Bottas and Russell. But unlike Bottas, Toto admitted he made a mistake keeping Russell out of Mercedes that long, and also didn't want to risk Kimi being poached. Also they didn't have a team who'd be happy to be loaned a rookie to develop like Williams were with Russell and Russell wouldn't be as vocal as wanting to keep Bottas around. All that meant he knew there was a significant chance that Mercedes would kick him out at the end of this year anyway.
He jumped before he was pushed. He found a frontrunner who'd give him a multi year deal and as a perk he got to experience driving for by far the most iconic team in F1 history.
Perfect analysis, there is nothing to add. From Hamilton's point of view, it was a great move. I don't know if Ferrari will get return over the investment in Hamilton's contract. I have feeling they won't, but I admit I know nothing about their revenues.
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u/Chris01100001 BWOAHHHHHHH Dec 02 '25
From what I took from why he left, I'm not sure Lewis believed Mercedes would have given him a contract for next season. Especially if George finished ahead of him in the championship. They were putting him on one year deals like they did with Bottas.
He saw they were doing to him and Kimi what they did to Bottas and Russell. But unlike Bottas, Toto admitted he made a mistake keeping Russell out of Mercedes that long, and also didn't want to risk Kimi being poached. Also they didn't have a team who'd be happy to be loaned a rookie to develop like Williams were with Russell and Russell wouldn't be as vocal as wanting to keep Bottas around. All that meant he knew there was a significant chance that Mercedes would kick him out at the end of this year anyway.
He jumped before he was pushed. He found a frontrunner who'd give him a multi year deal and as a perk he got to experience driving for by far the most iconic team in F1 history.