Lewis Hamilton Mercedes exit theory emerges with two reasons for Ferrari switch dismissed
There's been a lot of talk about Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari, but Eddie Jordan insists it isn't financially driven
Eddie Jordan believes Lewis Hamilton isn’t joining Ferrari for the contract or the money, but rather to give himself a much-needed reset.
The seven-time world champion shocked the F1 world when he announced his departure from Mercedes at the end of this season to join the iconic Italian team. He’s struggled with the Silver Arrows since the highly controversial end to the 2022 season saw him miss out on a record-breaking eighth title to Max Verstappen.
Several reasons for the switch have been touted. But racing legend Jordan thinks it was simply that Hamilton’s fuse had blown after 11 years with Mercedes and it’s the right time for a change, which will benefit him both on and off the track.
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Speaking on his Formula For Success podcast with David Coulthard, he said: “I think his mojo was up at Mercedes. I think he needed a new home. And often the case is when the time and the pressure and the stress on people is so intense - you need to find another set of parameters.
“I think Lewis, that’s why he went there. I truthfully don’t believe it’s to do with contracts or money, I think he feels he wants to see his career finish at Ferrari because it’s a magic place to go and he intends to go to live in Italy, which I can understand.
“He intends to learn the language fluently and I think they’re all very important because if you don’t do that, you will not be ingratiated within the Ferrari confines.”
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There are doubts about Hamilton’s potential at Ferrari, both due to his age at 39 and the car’s potential to battle Red Bull. But Jordan can see the red overalls giving him a similar boost to when he first joined Mercedes and is backing him to be a serious world championship contender from next season.
“I think they are very strong,” he continued. “We are very impressed by Fred Vasseur because I think Fred has brought a magic calm to that team, and if you can see it, it’s a bit like what McLaren is doing.
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“They’re slowly catching up. And that’s great for us because we’ll actually see better high-quality races and we hopefully won’t see Max going into the distance 20 and 30 seconds in the front.”
Reports have claimed Hamilton was only offered a one-year contract extension beyond 2025 by Mercedes but was after a multi-year deal like Ferrari tabled. It’s believed he’ll earn an annual salary of £42.7million (€50m), which would actually be a pay cut from his £43.6m ($55m) current contract.
