Lewis Hamilton encouraged by Ferrari form ahead of move from Mercedes for 2025 F1 season | F1 News

Lewis Hamilton says Red Bull’s overhaul of Ferrari and McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship has been “pretty incredible” ahead of his move to the Italian team next season.

Red Bull looked set to maintain their dominance over the past two seasons, with Max Verstappen winning four of the first five races of 2024, with team-mate Sergio Perez sealing a one-two in three and a double podium in the other.

Although Verstappen moved superbly to the brink of a fourth consecutive drivers’ title, with the Dutchman’s win last time out in Brazil ending a 10-race winless streak for the team, Red Bull’s dominance has decisively ended.

Going into the final three rounds of the season, McLaren lead the constructors’ standings by 36 points from Ferrari, with Red Bull a further 13 points adrift in third.

Before Verstappen’s win at Interlagos, Ferrari had won back-to-back wins in the US and Mexico, raising hopes that they could provide Hamilton with a 2025 car that would allow him to claim a record eighth driver’s title.

“Of course I’m very interested in my future,” said Hamilton, who is in his 12th and final season with Mercedes after the summer break. “And so, in that sense, to follow, yes, to follow what’s going on.”

When asked if he was encouraged by Ferrari’s performances, Hamilton replied: “Of course.

“If you look somewhere like maybe China already, Red Bull was a second ahead. And it’s been pretty incredible to see the rise of McLaren and then Ferrari in the last couple of races, to see their progress and just try to maintain that progress. keeping an eye on everyone’s car and what they’re changing and adding.

“You know, we all watch the video, all the drivers, we all watch the laps of the plane and always try to see where we can gain time. And there are some cars that just react differently and react better or worse in certain areas.

“And you’re trying to figure out how you can find that in your balance sheet or get the team to develop the car in that direction.”

Wolff admits Hamilton’s exit saved him from having to replace Briton

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said he was “liked” that Hamilton decided to leave the team to join Ferrari, as it prevented him from getting rid of the seven-time world champion later.

Hamilton stunned the sporting world ahead of the 2024 season by confirming it would be his last with Mercedes as he signed a multi-year deal to join the iconic Italian team.

Wolff admitted at the time that he was blindsided by the move, which would end the most successful driver-team partnership in the sport’s history, but said concerns over Hamilton’s “shelf life” meant the prospect of forcing the Briton out. was already off the team in his mind.

Wolff’s comments were reported in Mercedes’ new all-access book Inside the Mercedes F1. life on the fast trackwhich followed the team through the hectic 2023 campaign and the start of 2024.

“I absolutely had it on my radar that Lewis would go,” Wolff told the book’s author, Matt Wyman.

“I just couldn’t understand why he would switch to another team before we knew if we were going to be competitive.

“It also didn’t give me time to react, I had to call our partners urgently, and I may have missed negotiating with other drivers who signed contracts a few weeks ago, such as Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.

“(But) I like the situation. It helps us because it avoids the moment when we have to tell the most iconic driver in the sport that we want to stop.”

Formula 1 returns with the Las Vegas Grand Prix from November 22-24, live on Sky Sports F1, where Max Verstappen could seal the championship. Get Sky Sports F1 to watch every race and more live