The reasons behind Hamilton's purported bombshell Ferrari move

The first thing to be said about the latest Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari rumour is the timing is convenient.

After the bloodbath that was the reaction to Formula 1 officially rejecting Andretti's entry bid in scathing terms, that story has been wiped from the front of the minds of many as the biggest driver market bombshell in years drops.

Hamilton is on the verge of sealing a deal to sign for Ferrari from the 2025 season, drawing the curtain on what would be 12 years at Mercedes that transformed him from 'regular F1 World Champion' to global megastar and the best marketing tool available to F1.

In potentially electing to leave Mercedes, Hamilton has clearly not seen enough progress with its third attempt at a ground effects machine, and decided that the Maranello lawn looks a lot greener than the Brackley one.

If indeed Hamilton does make the move, he will turn 40 as he prepares for the ultimate throw of the dice and put all his hopes of the eighth World Championship he craves on red.

To be the driver to restore title-winning ways to Ferrari, break the record for most world titles he shares with Michael Schumacher and then hang his helmet up and walk away would be the the fairytale ending and ultimate mic-drop, but will he get his moment?

Hamilton to Ferrari

At the end of 2023, Toto Wolff described how catching Red Bull would be like climbing Mount Everest given just how far Mercedes and Ferrari were behind the runaway champions. This author went a step further and described it as Red Bull having just landed on the Moon and Mercedes and Ferrari just putting a person in space for the first time.

The chasm that opened up between Red Bull and the pack in 2023 cannot be closed in a single winter, it is just too vast a gap for a team that was stumbling towards the finish line at the end of the season.

Hamilton looked thoroughly fed-up in Abu Dhabi as Mercedes committed to a revolution of its W15 concept.

It is not to say that Ferrari is in a much better position but in the final stretch of last term, Frederic Vasseur's team was taking chunks out of Mercedes and fell just three points short of second place in the final standings.

Ferrari had momentum and seemed to have finally cracked the enigma of ground effects. Mercedes was still scratching their heads - and that will not have breed confidence in Hamilton of a sizeable step in the right direction.

Hamilton to Ferrari rumours down the years have been common, but it has always been assumed he would remain with Mercedes - despite the overtures of Ferrari chairman John Elkann.

Elkann has long been an admirer of Hamilton, and there is no better way to boost Ferrari PLC with the stakeholders than swooping and grabbing statistically the greatest F1 driver of all-time from a major rival.

In turn, this would make Ferrari an even more enticing project for engineers who might have been reluctant to relocate to Italy and a new virtuous cycle is born.

It appears that Carlos Sainz could be the odd one out after doing nothing wrong alongside Charles Leclerc as his team-mate since 2021.

If Leclerc is in the elite, Sainz is a 1.5 - a driver capable of challenging on his day, but maybe not over a season against the Monegasque, who is firmly Ferrari's number one.

If this shock swoop comes off and Hamilton does join, it is the final piece in the Ferrari jigsaw and failure would not be tolerated.

Would moving to Ferrari in 2025 be a good move for Lewis Hamilton? Let us know in the comments and by voting in the poll!