Though fulfilling a childhood dream in driving for Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton admits that making the decision to leave Mercedes was the hardest ever.

Six of his seven titles were at the wheel of a Silver Arrow, while his first title was in a McLaren powered by the Three Pointed Star.

However, at the beginning of the month, despite having signed a two-year deal with the German team last August, it was revealed that the Briton had activated a clause in his contract to leave at the end of this season for Maranello.

"It was obviously the hardest decision I have ever had to make," he said of the decision to leave his Mercedes 'family'. "I've been with Mercedes for, I think, like, 26 years... they have supported me, and we have had an absolutely incredible journey together.

"We have created history together in the sport," he continued, "and it's something I take a lot of pride in and I'm very proud of what we have achieved. I think ultimately I'm writing my story and I felt like it was just time to start a new chapter."

Shortly after the shock announcement, Hamilton took to social media to admit that driving for Ferrari has been a "childhood dream", and in front of the media for the first time since the news broke, he expanded on that dream.

"I think every driver, growing up, watching the history, watching Michael Schumacher in his prime, I think probably all of us sit in our garage and see the screen pop up, and you see the driver in the red cockpit, and you wonder what it might be like to be surrounded by the red," he said. "You go to the Italian Grand Prix, and you see the sea of red of Ferrari fans, and you can only stand in awe of that.

"It's a team that's not had huge success really since, mostly obviously from Michael's days, but obviously since 2007, and I saw it as a huge challenge," he admitted. "Without a doubt, even as a kid, I used to play on Grand Prix 2 as Michael in that car. So it definitely is a dream, and I'm really, really excited about it."

Of course, over the years other world champions have sought to fulfil their dream at Ferrari, among them Alain Prost, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, but none was able to claim a title with the Scuderia. Indeed, other than the golden era of Schumacher, and that one of title for Kimi Raikkonen, you have to go all the way back to 1979 to find the prancing horse on the drivers' trophy.

Key to Hamilton's decision, he admits, is the presence at Maranello of Fred Vasseur, with whom he won the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2005 and GP2 in 2006.

"I've got a great relationship with Fred," he smiled. "Obviously I raced for him in Formula 3 and we had amazing success in Formula 3 and also in GP2, and that's really where the foundation for our relationship started.

"We always remained in touch," he added, "and I thought that he was going to be an amazing team manager at some stage and progress to Formula One, but at the time he wasn't interested in that.

"It was pretty cool to see him step into the Alfa Romeo team, and then when he got the job at Ferrari, I was so happy for him. I think just the stars aligned, it really wouldn't have happened without him, and I'm just really grateful and really excited about the work he's doing there."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 26/02/2024 5:12

"The seeds of Hamilton's defection were sown quite some time back. In fact sitting on my office desk is an article from Motosport magazine [ vol 99 No.7 ] dated July 2023 detailing Hamiltons meetings with Elkann! Why all the surprise?. Maybe it's all the confusion as in the same issue Hamilton is quoted by Benson as having stated,' I can see myself being with Mercedes until my last days. It's my dream'. Hamilton is dreaming, firstly with Mercedes and now to drive with the Red Team' . The evidence is out there to support the commercialisation of the Hamilton name but failure to bring Ferrari home on top of the F1 pyramid will be hard to accept by all concerned.Big $$$ rest on the outcome and it will be fascinating to witness the events as they proceed."

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2. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 25/02/2024 16:32

"@kenji - Ferrari will be stumping up an enormous salary for Hamilton which means they obviously value him. He is towards the end of an illustrious career and has nothing left to prove. As a 7 time world champion, he remains the biggest driver “brand” in the sport and he’s joining a legendary team. I didn’t see it coming but I’m really looking forward to seeing what the partnership brings in 2025. "

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3. Posted by kenji, 24/02/2024 23:29

"The big question for Hamilton really is...will Ferrari sprinkle me with fairy dust [ like Mecedes did ] and provide me with the requisite status of LOTM? Although any predictions, by definition, must be highly speculative I do think that his tenure will be somewhat rocky. Leclerc will be no pushover and the tifosi are remarkably loyal. "

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The hardest decision I ever had to make, admits Hamilton

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