From “lost faith” in Mercedes to “can’t say” if he now regrets joining Ferrari, at least watching Lewis Hamilton’s decision play out will be “exciting” says Helmut Marko – but they have lost someone “important” in Enrico Cardile.
Hamilton shocked the world of motorsport in February when it was announced he’d activated an exit clause in his Mercedes contract that would allow him to leave one year into his newest two-year deal.
As for his destination, that announcement came a short while later in a brief press release that read: “Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract.”
Hamilton said his decision to leave Mercedes after 12 years and six World titles was “one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make” but that he was “excited to be taking on a new challenge.”
Speculation as to Hamilton’s reasoning behind his decision to leave Mercedes hit high gear with pundits and fans voicing their thoughts; even Marko had something to say.
Speaking of a “fascination with Ferrari”, he told sport.de: “This is the best thing that could have happened to Formula 1 at the moment. Hamilton has lost faith in Mercedes.”
And it seemed for the first eight rounds of the season that Hamilton had made the right choice with Ferrari, winning two races to sit 23 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship after Charles Leclerc’s Monaco Grand Prix victory.
That race, as time would tell, would be a turning point.
Not only was it Ferrari’s last win, one could argue it was their last very good performance even despite bagging two podiums since, but it was the weekend in which Mercedes introduced their new flexi wing.
The eureka moment or just the final piece in the puzzle that brought the W15 together, Mercedes went on a six-race podium streak after Monaco with three of those coming from race wins.
Such has been Mercedes’ rate of development and on-track gains, if the Brackley squad and Ferrari continue as they have been since Monaco, Mercedes will take third place in the Constructors’ Championship.
It begs the question, is Hamilton now regretting his decision to swap silver for red?
“I can’t say,” Marko told OE24. “That will be exciting.”
Ferrari’s efforts to maintain pace with their main rivals have not been helped by the loss of Enrico Cardile, who has left Ferrari to join Aston Martin, while the Scuderia’s target to replace him, Adrian Newey, is also said to be leaning towards Aston Martin.
“Ferrari has lost an important man in chassis boss Cardile,” Marko continued.
“Let’s wait and see what happens with Adrian Newey (the outgoing designer of all Red Bull world champion cars, ed.). He has some top offers, including from England, and can decide where he goes.”
But while Marko is sitting on the fence as to whether or not Hamilton regrets his decision, the seven-time World Champion’s team-mate George Russell reckons there is “no way” he would’ve left Mercedes with today’s results.
He told Reuters: “I don’t think he would have left if the team was performing like this. No way he would have left, for sure not.
“For 2026, the PU’s looking really strong and everything we’re doing with the fuels is looking great and there’s a lot of optimism for us over the next couple of years.
“As tough as these last few years have been, it really feels like we’ve got the momentum with us now.”
