F1 Pundit asserts Lewis Hamilton ‘checked out’ of Mercedes after Ferrari announcement
Lewis Hamilton suffered a disappointing final season at Mercedes after announcing his switch to Ferrari for 2025.
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Lewis Hamilton, image via IMAGO
Lewis Hamilton announced his switch to Scuderia Ferrari for 2025 even before the start of the 2024 season. The seven-time world champion’s announcement shocked the sporting world. Now, F1 pundit Ben Hunt has signaled that the Briton failed to perform at Mercedes due to this switch.
Hamilton had a frustrating final season at Mercedes last year. The 40-year-old couldn’t understand his lack of pace in Qualifying. Moreover, the situation got to such an extent that he even considered quitting the campaign before the end of the season.
Ben Hunt highlighted that Lewis Hamilton had sort of handed his notice to Mercedes at the beginning of the year. As such, the 40-year-old was essentially on a notice period for the season. This led to the Briton feeling checked out at the team, which in turn impacted his motivation and results.
He’d handed his notice in at the start of the year, and he was serving his notice, he’d kind of checked out. Once you’ve done that you’re never working at your same capacity.
Ben Hunt said on James Allen on F1 podcast
Lewis Hamilton needed Ferrari switch to stay ‘motivated’
Hunt insisted that Lewis Hamilton did not get stale during the last couple of seasons. Rather, the seven-time world champion seemed to become disillusioned with the situation at Mercedes. Thus, Hunt argued that Hamilton’s move to Maranello could allow him to remain motivated in Formula 1 for the foreseeable future.
I think that his time at Mercedes, I don’t want to say he grew stale, but he certainly got very disillusioned. He needed this change for the motivation.
Ben Hunt noted
The British driver remains hungry for success in the sport. Lewis Hamilton is determined to make a mark during his dream stint at Ferrari. The 40-year-old will go up against Charles Leclerc as teammate, which could create an exciting intra-team rivalry at Maranello.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2315 Articles Published)