Martin Brundle has openly rejected Lewis Hamilton’s statement that his last season with Mercedes would be filled with emotion.
Hamilton, aged 39, recently made headlines with his unexpected decision to switch to Ferrari, although he won’t be joining the Italian team until 2025 due to his ongoing contract with Mercedes.
Hamilton, who has been with Mercedes since 2013, broke the news to team boss Toto Wolff just a few weeks before the start of the new season.
During the launch of Mercedes’ W15 this week, Hamilton expressed that he feels both ’emotional and surreal’ as he enters his 11th and final season with the team.
Despite signing a two-year contract with Mercedes in August, Hamilton chose to terminate his agreement prematurely over the winter to join forces with Ferrari.
However, the Sky Sports F1 analyst quickly dismissed Hamilton’s remarks. “I don’t buy all of this, ‘It’s going to be emotional leaving’… Lewis is a winning machine, and that’s what he wants to do.”
He said, “It’s a good contract, he’ll be paid a lot of money, get a lot of love and it will be one of global sport’s biggest stories in 2025.
“The teams are slightly disingenuous when they tell you about new contract signings because they only tell you edited highlights that suit them,”
Brundle continued. “Clearly, they forgot to mention that Hamilton had an exit clause, which he has chosen to take very early indeed. F1 contracts can be up to 100 pages but often there is an exit clause or a performance-related clause included.”
Hamilton is set to kick off his farewell tour with Mercedes at the Bahrain Grand Prix in March, with his sights firmly set on the upcoming season.
Hamilton said, “(The last few weeks) have obviously been emotional and it is very surreal to be here, The focus through the whole of winter training is getting the team back to where we once were.”
“We have had these difficult couple of years which have been really grounding for us. It has helped us regroup and really look at things.”
Verstappen commented during Red Bull’s unveiling event, “I mean I think at the end of the day, seeing him go to Ferrari… it’s not a surprise, You know, if that’s your goal as a kid or your dream then you go, right? The only thing for me was that it seemed like it was a bit leaked, of course, and then they had to announce it.
“Because to announce something that big that early in the season I think for sure, for the rest of the year is a bit, I would say a little bit awkward. Even though you’ve had a lot of success together as a team, you can’t be included in everything anymore. But for him going to Ferrari, it’s not shocking, you know.”
