Mercedes F1 chief Andrew Shovlin doesn’t believe Lewis Hamilton’s decision to leave the team for Ferrari was solely down to car performance.
Hamilton shocked the sporting world in February when his move to Ferrari was announced.
The seven-time world champion’s decision to leave the team was a surprise given his contract with Mercedes didn’t run out until the end of 2025.
Additionally, Hamilton has remained part of the Mercedes family since the start of his F1 career with McLaren.
While Mercedes started this year on the back foot, heading into the Dutch Grand Prix later this month, they’ve won three of the last four races.
Speaking to select media including Crash.net during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Shovlin was asked whether he felt Hamilton would have stayed with Mercedes if he knew how competitive the team would become mid-way through this season.
“I think if we’d been winning championships, it would have been difficult for Lewis to say no,” Shovlin said.
“However, I think his biggest reasons are not necessarily ones of car performance.
“He clearly wants to have another chapter in his career beyond his very successful one with Mercedes.
“He’s of an age where if he was going to do that, he would need to do it sooner rather than later.
“And as I said, if you know if we were dominating a championship, I suspect it would have been difficult for him to do that.
“But I think a big part of Lewis is wanting to have another team and another challenge in his career.
“I think when someone’s decided that they want to do that it can be quite difficult to persuade them otherwise.”
Only Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri have out-scored Hamilton in the last eight races.
Hamilton added to his 103 wins with victories at Silverstone and Spa – moving him onto 105 for his career.
