A nervous Lewis Hamilton is focused on the present at Mercedes, but his gaze and thoughts also turn to the future at Ferrari.
At Mercedes he is going through an ordeal
"I will always continue to love Mercedes. I'm ready to give my best, every week will be exciting, even the last winter test. I will continue to give my best like every year" Lewis Hamilton said at the Bahrain GP press conference, the first useful opportunity to hear his words after the announcement that he will be a Ferrari driver from 2025.
The last season with the silver arrows, however, is becoming an ordeal. The Briton was aware that Mercedes wouldn't offer him the chance to win again anytime soon, but he certainly hadn't expected to face such a difficult period. The race in Japan essentially confirmed the 2023 gap from Red Bull Racing: from the 49" in the race achieved by Hamilton last year to the 46" of Russell.
The comparison with Ferrari makes Hamilton nervous
It's a foggy, tense and nervous phase for Lewis. While the growing Ferrari confirms that it made the right decision to change teams next year, it still has 20 races to go in Mercedes.
For a 7-time world champion the situation is frustrating, so much so that in the post-grand prix press conference, when asked by a journalist guilty of having asked him if he couldn't wait to go to Ferrari, he replied annoyed: "Don't you have better questions?“. And then leave.
In his heart he thinks about it, and smiles when he sees the improvements and performances of the Red. But when will the most successful driver in F1 history officially join the most successful F1 team?
The word to Toto Wolff
Lewis' contract with Mercedes expires on 31 December 2024. Until that moment, being tied to the silver arrows, Hamilton effectively cannot approach Ferrari. The Briton would thus have less time available to settle into the new team and understand the single-seater.
FormulaPassion reports Hamilton's words on the subject: “I'm not sure how I'll do this time, in 2012 I don't think I joined Mercedes until December".
The last word goes to Toto Wolff. Since the world cup ends on December 8th this year, it is A signed release from Mercedes is required to let him go early, thus allowing him to carry out the seat test.
"Already thinking about what will happen next year doesn't help me”: Lewis concluded. But certain issues, as we know, can take some time.
