By now the cat has, well and truly,
been let out of the bag. Lewis Hamilton will be a Ferrari driver in 2025. It’ll
take a minute to sink in. But. In all honestly, it’s not quite the
bombshell that the social media universe would have you believe.
After all, it was Sir Hamilton
himself that announced his departure from McLaren to join the then mid-field
runners Mercedes. We can say a few things here.
One, Hamilton clearly isn’t
afraid of big moves. Two, he does have a knack for making the right calls.
Three, Seb Vettel was right. It was Vettel who said that everyone is a Ferrari
fan. Even those that say they aren’t Ferrari fans, are Ferrari fans. And that’s
about the limit of the number of times you can use the word Ferrari in one
sentence.
This does mean that Carlos Sainz
junior finds himself, currently unemployed in 2025. The big question is who
will replace Hamilton at Mercedes. Let’s run through the options.
There is a
chance that it could be a swop and Sainz goes to Merc, but this seems an
unlikely scenario given all the talent that is floating around. Sainz and his
team could also be pushing hard for the Red Bull seat. He’s a known commodity
at Red Bull and Checo Perez is perennially under pressure.
But let’s play
devil’s advocate – Red Bull could probably have signed up Sainz at any point in
the last two years and they haven’t done so.
What does seem plausible for the
Spaniard is a move to Stake, to be known as Audi in 2026, alongside, wait for
it, Seb Vettel!
Mercedes might push hard to get
Lando Norris [dream scenario] but the ultra-talented Brit has just extended
his deal with McLaren, and it doesn’t seem likely that Zak Brown will want to
let go of a driver that is a bonafide superstar.
The other options are Pierre Gasly,
Esteban Ocon, or Alex Albon. And out of these three you’d have to put your
money on Albon. He not only has a good relationship with Merc boss Toto Wolff,
but he has also proven his mega abilities in the lackluster Williams.
There are
some suggestions that Valtteri Bottas could return to Merc but, again, why
double dip if you have Albon available?
For my money, if Mercedes can’t
finagle a way to get Norris into their car they’ll most likely opt for Alex
Albon. Solid, mega-quick, eager Albon.
Then again, this could all be spin,
a distraction from F1’s refusal to let Andretti join the sport.
