Giedo van der Garde says Lewis Hamilton is focusing on Ferrari after three-word radio message to Mercedes

Follow us on Google Discover

Lewis Hamilton will take part in his 242nd race with Mercedes at the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend. No driver has ever made as many appearances for a single team.

Of the 241 races to date, Hamilton has won 84. Most of those victories contributed to six championship-winning campaigns, making this the most successful partnership in F1 history.

But it won’t become the first combination to reach 250 races. Hamilton heads the long list of drivers joining new teams for 2025 as he moves to Ferrari.

There was a period earlier in the year when it looked like he might have made a mistake. Mercedes won three out of four races before the summer break, with Hamilton responsible for two of those, and it looked as if they finally understood their erratic W15.

In the same period, Ferrari rather lost their way. They pursued the wrong development path with their Spanish Grand Prix upgrade.

But since the summer break, it’s become clear that Mercedes still don’t know how to optimise their car. They’ve fallen back to a clear fourth in the pecking order, while Ferrari are dark horses for the constructors’ title after Charles Leclerc led a one-two at the US Grand Prix.

Giedo van der Garde says Lewis Hamilton is ‘really looking forward’ to Ferrari after Mercedes apology

Hamilton endured one of the poorest weekends of his entire F1 career in Austin. A mistake in Sprint qualifying (following a yellow flag) cost him a shot at pole, and he then suffered an exceedingly rare Q1 exit on Saturday.

His attempted recovery drive in the race would end after just three laps as he spun into the gravel at the penultimate corner. Martin Brundle says Hamilton was powerless to prevent the incident after watching the onboard footage.

After beaching his car in the gravel, Hamilton said over the radio ‘yeah, sorry guys’. De Race Show podcast host Joost Hoffman thought he sounded disengaged.

Former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde agreed. At this late stage of the season, the Dutchman reckons he’ll be more focused on his new team, who scored just their third one-two in the last five years.

Hoffman said: “You actually heard him on the radio. There was so much… what is the opposite of passion? It was so just passive – ‘sorry guys’.”

Van der Garde replied: “I think he is still watching with an angle of ‘that Ferrari is good’. He is really looking forward to it.”

Why Mercedes blamed the F1 cost cap for key Lewis Hamilton issue

Mercedes raised eyebrows in Texas by keeping Hamilton on the grid rather than starting him from the pit lane like George Russell. The 39-year-old felt he needed the balance of his car overhauled to compete.

Will Buxton says Hamilton was ‘so uncomfortable’ that it was clearly necessary to break parc ferme. But the team have now offered an explanation.

James Allison says Mercedes had to consider the cost cap as they weighed up where he should start. Theoretically, he could have taken a new engine to aid overtaking, which would have offered lasting benefits without any real cost in terms of grid position, but this would have put a hole in their budget.

Under the rules, teams can only write off the fee when the previous power unit is broken. Still, there appears to be a growing disconnect between Hamilton and the decision-makers at Brackley, which may partly stem from reduced involvement in their meetings.