Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes at the end of the season to join Ferrari. Some would view this as a loss of faith in the Silver Arrows, others as simply the pursuit of a new challenge.
The partnership between Hamilton and Mercedes has been the most successful in F1 history. It delivered a record-breaking six world championships between 2014 and 2020.
However, the Brackley outfit have largely struggled since the transition to ground-effect cars in 2022. They’ve only won one race in that time, with George Russell taking victory at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.
For the most part, they’ve been battling for the status of ‘best of the rest’ behind Red Bull with Ferrari and McLaren. Toto Wolff will hope that they have finally made a breakthrough in recent times.
Russell secured the team’s first pole position of the year at the Canadian GP and followed it up with their first podium. Hamilton then came home third in Barcelona last time out.
Whether or not Mercedes maintain this trajectory, they won’t have a chance to truly separate themselves until 2026. The teams are facing some of the biggest regulation changes in the sport’s recent history, which is bound to shake up the pecking order.
Christian Horner says Lewis Hamilton had ‘all the information’ about 2026 before Mecedes exit
While the exact chassis specifications of the 2026 machinery have yet to be finalised, teams have already been able to set to work on their engines. They’re aiming to triple their electrical power output while successfully optimising the new sustainable fuels.
Inevitably, there are already rumours about who has the edge. Carlos Sainz is apparently open to the idea of joining Williams partly because of the promising noises he’s heard about their Mercedes powertrains.
Meanwhile, Red Bull are taking control of their operation as they split with Honda. Peter Windsor has rubbished any notion that they’re lagging behind at this stage.
Speaking in the team principals’ press conference at the Austrian Grand Prix (FIA), team principal Christian Horner pointed out that Hamilton would have had an inside track on Mercedes’ 2026 progress. And yet, he still chose to leave.
Horner implied that this should be a cause for concern for Max Verstappen. The world champion is Wolff’s top target to replace Verstappen and, while he’s unlikely to join for 2025, he has an exit clause in his contract ahead of the rule reset.
He said: “The driver that’s created all the movement in the market had all the information about the engines and 2026 regulations and so on and chose to leave and left a vacancy at Mercedes, which is why there has now been obviously a little bit of speculation as to who will fill that seat. But it won’t be Max Verstappen.”
What Jos Verstappen did in Austrian GP paddock amid Christian Horner spat
Verstappen’s biggest concern right now might be the latest flare-up between his father and Horner. This time, it’s been triggered by the team boss allegedly blocking the 52-year-old from taking part in the legends’ parade.
Horner has denied those claims, but one journalist spotted Verstappen senior entering the Mercedes hospitality unit in the paddock on Friday. The purpose of his visit is unclear.
Wolff insists that any notion that he’s pursuing the 61-time race-winner solely to distract Red Bull is ‘nonsense’. Mercedes’ plan-b seems to be to promote academy driver Kimi Antonelli.
Martin Brundle isn’t yet ready to accept that things are ‘sewn up’ for 2025, however. He pointed out that the Silver Arrows have received enough encouragement to continue ‘hanging around’.
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