Lewis Hamilton will finish the F1 2024 season with
Mercedes ahead of his move to Ferrari for F1 2025, with rumours of an early
exit “far fetched.”
That is the claim of Sky F1 reporter Craig Slater
after Hamilton‘s
team radio message at the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix raised concerns that
he could part company with the team before the final three races.
Lewis Hamilton to complete F1 2024 season with Mercedes
ahead of Ferrari switch
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
Hamilton announced earlier this year that he will
join Ferrari on
a multi-year contract from the F1 2025 season, ending his long and successful
association with Mercedes.
The British driver has claimed six of his joint-record
seven World Championships with the team, as well as becoming the first man to
surpass 100 grand prix victories and pole positions, since arriving from
McLaren at the beginning of 2013.
Having suffered two winless seasons in 2022/23, Hamilton
has returned to the top step of the podium in F1 2024 with emotional victories
at Silverstone and Spa.
However, the second half of the season has been a
disappointment with Hamilton finishing no higher than fourth since the summer
break in August.
Hamilton’s season slumped to a new low in Brazil, where he
failed to reach Q3 for both the sprint and the main race and finished a distant
10th, 27 seconds adrift of team-mate George Russell in fourth.
After the chequered flag, Hamilton referred to his Mercedes
W15 as “the worst the car’s ever been” over team radio.
He then appeared to cast doubt over whether he will complete
the season with Mercedes, adding: “If this is the last time I get to perform,
it’s a shame that it wasn’t great, but grateful for you.”
Hamilton went on to raise further suspicions over his
short-term future, claiming that he is “looking forward to Christmas” at this
late stage of the season, indicating that he has written off the rest of the F1
2024 season.
However, he then dropped a strong hint that he will remain
in place for the remaining three races adding: “If they give me a car that
doesn’t bounce off the track in the next few races, then hopefully we can get a
better result.”
PlanetF1.com understands that Hamilton’s team radio message
is most likely related to his pit crew, with Brazil marking the last time he
will work with some members of the team on a race weekend.
Mercedes have operated a rotation system with the pit crew
to manage the demands of the record-breaking 24-race F1 2024 season, with
Hamilton set to work with his alternative crew for the final triple header
spanning Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Wild speculation online has suggested that Hamilton could
vacate his Mercedes seat ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix later this month,
which would allow his F1 2025 successor Andrea Kimi Antonelli to contest the
final three races and gain valuable experience ahead of his debut season.
However, Slater has insisted that Hamilton will complete the season with Mercedes ahead of his move to Ferrari.
.webp)
