Perez claims 'jealousy' behind Hamilton Ferrari interest

Lewis Hamilton announcing his 2025 switch to Ferrari at the start of February has without a doubt been the most discussed moment of the winter break, with Sergio Perez intrigued by the "dynamics" of the move.

2024 will be Hamilton's 12th and final season as a Mercedes driver, as a result of him having activated an exit clause in his new contract which he only signed last August. It'll bring to a close the 39-year-old's relationship with the German manufacturer, which started when he was just 13 years old.

Hamilton's unexpected switch has in many ways had a direct effect on Perez, as 'silly season' has commenced significantly earlier than usual. Perez is one of 13 drivers on the grid without a deal for 2025, although he's currently "not bothered" by the driver market coming to life so early.

Addressing Hamilton's move when asked by RacingNews365, Perez replied: "Interesting, but more than that, I think the dynamics, it's going to be interesting to watch from the outside.

"Having a driver that is moving teams, we all know how jealous the teams are on sharing information, because, obviously, Lewis has been there [Mercedes] for many years, and he will be taking a lot of knowledge to another team.

"So again, there will be some interesting dynamics to watch from the outside."

Future will 'take care of itself'

Perez isn't a newcomer to entering a season without a contract for the following year and has previous experience of playing the waiting game. He had to do this back in 2020 when he wasn't retained by Racing Point – known now as Aston Martin.

The Red Bull driver entered the winter break following the conclusion of the 2020 season without a drive for 2021, before he was signed by the reigning World Champions towards the end of December.

"To be honest, when you've been for so long in this business, you know how it operates," conceded Perez when commenting on his future.

"I'm just a lot less bothered about it, I just want to make sure that I'm able to enjoy it, first of all, have a lot of fun and have that motivation, and the rest will take care of itself."