Mercedes dismiss theory over Hamilton-to-Ferrari departure

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has rubbished suggestions that Lewis Hamilton is leaving the team to join Ferrari due to the W15's performance.

Hamilton will complete his blockbuster move to Ferrari at the end of the current season, with his Mercedes departure having been announced ahead of the ongoing campaign.

The Brackley-based team struggled in the opening two years of the current regulations and also made a disappointing start to this season, raising speculation that Hamilton opted to leave due to the performance of its car. 

Recently, Mercedes has turned a significant corner, with back-to-back victories claimed by the team in Austria and Silverstone where Hamilton ended a 945-day winless streak.  The seven-time F1 champion also won Sunday's Belgian GP after team-mate George Russell was disqualified.

Shovlin believes leaving the Silver Arrows would have been very tough for Hamilton if Mercedes was still winning titles, but that his upcoming departure has nothing to do with its car.

"I think if we'd been winning championships, it would have been difficult for Lewis to say no," Shovlin told select media including RacingNews365. 

"However, I think his biggest reasons are not necessarily ones of car performance. He clearly wants to have another chapter in his career beyond his very successful one with Mercedes. 

"He's of an age where if he was going to do that, he would need to do it sooner rather than later. 

Hamilton's new challenge

With Hamilton now 39 years old, his F1 career is reaching its latter stages. Shovlin can understand the decision to want to race for a team as iconic as Ferrari.

The 105-time race winner now has a chance to end Ferrari's long title drought which stretches back to 2008. 

"As I said, if we were dominating a championship, I suspect it would have been difficult for him to do that [join Ferrari]," said Shovlin.

"But I think a big part of Lewis is wanting to have another team and another challenge in his career.

"I think when someone's decided that they want to do that, it can be quite difficult to persuade them otherwise."