F1 hero David Coulthard has offered two possible explanations as to why Lewis Hamilton is turning his back on Mercedes at the end of the season.
Hamilton is set to finish his F1 career with Ferrari after agreeing a multi-year deal. With the shock switch announced before the start of the 2024 campaign, the slow countdown towards the end of the seven-time world champion’s Silver Arrows stint is almost complete.
With Hamilton’s performances this season suggesting that he is not at the level he once was, many questions remain on the move itself and how it will pan out.
Coulthard – a veteran of 13 Grand Prix wins – believes that Hamilton may have jumped ship to pursue an ’emotional’ final flourish with the Prancing Horse, and because his relationships at Mercedes may have become ‘stale’.
“I suspect [the move] was slightly emotional and in a frustrated place,” Coulthard told PlanetF1. “Some relationships, over time, become a bit stale.
“He obviously saw the opportunity at Ferrari a bit like, I guess, Mercedes when they brought Michael [Schumacher] back. They thought they were getting the Michael of his Ferrari era, and then they found out they just got a good Michael.
“Ferrari may end up just getting a good Lewis. A good Lewis is still pretty handy, but he’s been consistently outperformed by George [Russell] this year – maybe not in the championship points table, but in terms of qualifying and so on.”
With three Grands Prix remaining in the 2024 season, Hamilton and Russell are separated by just two points. Next year, the outgoing Mercedes veteran will be subjected to an altogether different test, against Ferrari golden boy Charles Leclerc.
And Coulthard is wondering whether Hamilton still has the sharpness to compete with the Monegasque. “I’m not a big football fan but I hear the analogy about a striker losing a yard – the thing that allowed them to get there and put the ball in the back of the net was they were just that wee bit quicker,” he said.
“The minute they lose that speed… they’re still brilliant, but they’re not as brilliant as they were. So Lewis may well not quite deliver what he’s hoping for, because, first of all, he’s got to outqualify Charles. I think Charles, at 27, he’s still pretty handy, and that may make it difficult for Lewis.”
