Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
Lewis Hamilton may partly regret leaving Mercedes. His move to Ferrari has been a ‘nightmare’ so far, in his own words.
It’s true that Mercedes weren’t providing Hamilton with title-challenging cars either, but he was at least able to score podiums on a fairly consistent basis. Unless he finishes in the top three in Abu Dhabi this weekend, he will go a whole year without spraying the champagne.
More importantly, perhaps, Mercedes are believed to be the favourites for 2026. Hamilton may have voluntarily given up the most desirable seat for the new regulations.
The 2026 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be Lewis Hamilton’s final F1 race – discuss.
However, as Toto Wolff explained in an interview with The Telegraph, he had a ‘young kid in the pipeline’ who may have become a threat to Hamilton (Kimi Antonelli).
Toto Wolff says it was the right time for Lewis Hamilton to leave Mercedes
Hamilton won 84 races and six titles at Mercedes – both records at a single team. They spent 246 races together, which also makes this the longest partnership ever, even if Max Verstappen is closing in after reaching 209 appearances for Red Bull.
But Wolff reflects that Hamilton and Mercedes were starting to ‘annoy each other’ before he left. The driver was clearly frustrated that he no longer had the tools to challenge, but equally, his own performances started to drop off, particularly in 2024.
That’s why Wolff tried to ’embrace’ the opportunity to change his line-up. Currently seventh, Antonelli could beat Hamilton in the championship if he outscores him by two or more points this weekend.
Prove me wrong: Mercedes would have still let Lewis Hamilton go before 2026 even if he hadn’t joined Ferrari
“I like change generally – I like the challenge and opportunities it presents,” said Wolff. “When Lewis resigned, I immediately started thinking, ‘What will we do now? Let’s embrace it.’
“I think anyway that, after 12 years, we had started to annoy each other. I already had this young kid in the pipeline.”
How Kimi Antonelli’s first Mercedes season compares to Lewis Hamilton’s last
Wolff and Hamilton remain close friends, meeting up away from the race track and travelling to races together.
Communications chief Bradley Lord says Mercedes ‘feel sorry’ for Hamilton because they can see that his hard work at Ferrari is not paying off.
While Antonelli has improved in the final third of the season, he has still scored less than a third of Mercedes’ points (150 out of 459).
Even in one of his worst seasons last year, Hamilton was responsible for 47.7% of Mercedes’ tally. The hope at Brackley is that Antonelli takes a leap as a sophomore driver, eradicating the inconsistency of his rookie campaign.
Receive exclusive F1 news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
