FIORANO MODENESE, ITALY – JANUARY 22: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Ferrari greets the crowd during Lewis Hamilton’s first official days as a Scuderia Ferrari F1 driver at Fiorano Circuit on January 22, 2025 in Fiorano Modenese, Italy. (Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Ciancaphoto Studio/Getty Images) (Image: Getty Images)
Ted Kravitz is speculating that there could be more behind ‘s decision to switch to than just taking a chance on his future.
Now at 40, Hamilton is acutely aware that his window for clinching an unprecedented eighth Formula 1 championship is closing.
Opting for over his long-standing team , he’s betting on the Italian outfit to help him realise his ambition. This comes after a trio of seasons where failed to deliver a competitive car for a title run, with outperforming them in two of those years.
Hamilton’s belief in ‘s potential led him to make the move before the 2024 season kicked off, and the results seem to vindicate his choice, as ended the season a whopping 184 points clear of .
MIAMI, FLORIDA – MAY 03: Ed Sheeran talks with Ted Kravitz on the Sky Sports F1 broadcast during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Miami at Miami International Autodrome on May 03, 2024 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images) (Image: Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Reflecting on this, Sky Sports F1’s pit lane reporter Kravitz pondered if Hamilton had a premonition about ‘s prospects during the winter before the 2024 season.
On the Sky F1 podcast, he posed the question to colleague Karun Chandhok: “Did Lewis know when he decided over the winter? ‘Do you know what, we haven’t even turned a wheel in testing yet but I don’t think is the place to be – I’m going to go to ‘. Was that just a leap in the dark for you? Because it turned out to be absolutely true. Look at – they’ve been a bit lost.”
Kravitz recently sparked discussion over Hamilton’s experience with his unpredictable car, questioning: “They never knew which kind of car was going to turn up at the racetrack and what it was going to do. It might win brilliantly, like in Belgium then one gets disqualified because they’re running it too low, too light, the wear, whatever.
Countering Kravitz’s doubts, fellow analyst Karun Chandhok expressed his opinion that Hamilton’s navigation of the situation seemed more akin to chance than certainty. He remarked: “I think it was a punt, because how could you tell what the opposition were doing? He would have obviously have had a feeling of what was going on at .”
Chandhok further speculated about the potential reasons behind Hamilton’s decisions, noting the disconnect between driver and team: “He’s talked about people not necessarily listening to what he was saying and not fully taking on board some of his thoughts of where he thought the cars should go and things like that.
“On reflection, early in the year, he was talking about some of those conversations so maybe that just steered him towards thinking, ‘Maybe I’ll go somewhere else where they will listen a bit more’.”
Reflecting on Hamilton’s career moves, Chandhok also mentioned a historical parallel: “I don’t know, but it’s funny, I was re-watching some interviews that were done towards the end of 2012 with people like Niki Lauda about Lewis coming to .
“And even that was a bit of a punt, because he just wanted a change of environment to leave and go to somewhere else. I think it’s a calculated risk. It’s worked out once, we’ll see what happens again.”