Lewis Hamilton knows he did something that wasn’t ‘right’ when he left McLaren for Mercedes

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Lewis Hamilton surprised the world of Formula 1 when he announced that he was leaving McLaren. His move to Mercedes became public at the end of September 2012.

At that stage, Mercedes were far from a contender. While Nico Rosberg had delivered their first Grand Prix victory since their 2010 return to F1 in China, they finished fifth in the championship.

With 142 points, they were far closer to midfield teams like Sauber (126) and Force India (109) than they were to the frontrunners. McLaren were 236 up the road.

What’s more, this was Hamilton’s home – he made his F1 debut in the iconic chrome colours in 2007 and won the championship a year later. In all, he won 21 races with the Woking outfit – a tally only Ayrton Senna (35) and Alain Prost (30) can better.

The timing of the announcement gave McLaren six races to prepare for his departure. Hamilton may have been a title contender that year without five DNFs, including two mechanical retirements from the lead.

He bagged a farewell victory at the United States Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the season and the debut for the Circuit of the Americas. He had a chance of signing off with another in Brazil before a race-ending collision with Nico Hulkenberg.

Lewis Hamilton felt his Mercedes exit had to be ‘face-to-face’ after McLaren mistake

Speaking to the talkSPORT Driving YouTube channel, Matt Whyman, the author of ‘Inside Mercedes F1’, shared Hamilton’s regrets over his McLaren departure. He didn’t inform team principal Martin Whitmarsh in person.

And so, when he decided to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari last winter, he knew he had to speak to Toto Wolff ‘face-to-face’. Hamilton has won six world titles with the Silver Arrows, making this the most successful partnership ever.

Wolff says he wasn’t surprised, though may partly be because of a tip-off from Carlos Sainz Sr. Instead, he simply asked Hamilton why he committed to Ferrari before the 2024 season had even begun.

“He felt that the right thing to do was to go and see Toto face-to-face,” Whyman said. “When he left McLaren, he said he didn’t do that.

“He was in Thailand and did it by phone or email. He felt that in retrospect, that wasn’t the right thing to do. He knew that it had to be face-to-face.”

How Mercedes are handling Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari move including meeting restrictions

Hamilton’s move has left Mercedes in an awkward position. They must treat their most successful driver – indeed, the most successful in F1 history – with the respect he deserves while also recognising that he’s joining one of their rivals.

One journalist claims Hamilton has already ‘clocked out’ at Mercedes. Wolff is apparently ‘feeling hurt’ because he confidently predicted that the superstar wouldn’t move to Maranello.

The 39-year-old seems to be losing motivation, at a loss as to how he can unlock more performance from his recalcitrant car. His P10 in Brazil last time out was his poorest result of the season (looking only at the races he’s finished).

Hamilton is no longer involved in certain Mercedes meetings at the factory. But there are no restrictions on his access at each race weekend, so it’s not an excuse for his poor performances.