Lewis Hamilton. /CFP
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, Formula One's most successful driver of all time, will race for Ferrari from 2025 after activating a release option in the Mercedes contract he signed in August.
The bombshell news, confirmed first by Mercedes and then in a one-line statement from Ferrari, came after a day of mounting speculation, with the world awaiting news from Maranello and Brackley.
"Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract," Ferrari said.
Hamilton is "the most successful driver in F1 history with 103 wins and 104 pole positions. Michael Schumacher is the only other driver with seven world titles," Sky Sports reported.
The 2024 F1 season begins with the Bahrain Grand Prix from February 29 to March 2.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton looks at Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari after getting pole in the qualifying session for the F1 Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China, April 11, 2015. /CFP
Hamilton and Mercedes
"I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I'm so proud of what we have achieved together. Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old," said Hamilton in the Mercedes statement.
"It's a place where I have grown up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make.
"But the time is right for me to take this step and I'm excited to be taking on a new challenge."
Hamilton said he wanted to finish his time at Mercedes on a high and was "100% committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my last year with the Silver Arrows, one to remember".
"Lewis will always be an important part of Mercedes motorsport history," said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.
"However, we knew our partnership would come to a natural end at some point, and that day has now come. We accept Lewis's decision to seek a fresh challenge."
Hamilton and Ferrari
The 39-year-old Briton is set to replace Spanish driver Carlos Sainz Jr. at Ferrari alongside Charles Leclerc and will hope to give the Italian team a world champion in one of their cars for the first time since Kimi Raikkonen of Finland won the title in 2007.
Hamilton told ESPN in May 2023: "I'd be lying if I said I'd never thought about ending my career anywhere else. I started at McLaren, I'd like to think I'll always be a part of the McLaren family, I started there when I was 13 years old, so I thought about what it would look like if I was at McLaren one day.
"I thought about and watched the Ferrari drivers on the screens at the track and of course you wonder what it would be like to be in red."
(With input from agencies)