Lewis Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari for the F1 2025 season was driven by a desire to “reinvent” himself, with Mercedes also benefiting from the move.

That is the claim of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who has shared more details of the conversation between the pair last winter when Hamilton informed him that he would be leaving the team.

Lewis Hamilton knelt beside his Mercedes W15 after his last race for the team in Abu Dhabi

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes ‘reinvigorating ourselves’ by parting ways

Hamilton announced on February 1 that he will join Ferrari on a multi-year contract from F1 2025, ending his long and successful association with Mercedes.

The seven-time World Champion’s decision came less than six months after he had signed a two-year contract extension at Mercedes, with Hamilton activating a break clause before the first season of his revised deal had started.

As reported by PlanetF1.com at the time (below), confirmation of Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari came 36 hours after he informed Wolff of his decision over breakfast at the home of the Mercedes team principal.

It created the unusual situation of Hamilton spending the entire F1 2024 season at Mercedes in the knowledge that they would be parting ways at the end of the year.

Hamilton enjoyed the best years of his F1 career at Mercedes, winning six of his joint-record seven World Championships and becoming the first driver in history to reach 100 grand prix wins and pole positions.

Wolff revealed in November that he “heard the bells ringing” about Hamilton’s move to Ferrari two weeks before the news was confirmed, having been informed of the development by the father of Carlos Sainz, the driver Hamilton has replaced at Maranello.

He went on to claim that Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team boss, did not respond to his message asking about the rumours.

Wolff tried to catch Hamilton off guard over their breakfast meeting by disclosing that Mercedes had agreed a deal to sign tech boss Simone Resta from Ferrari, to which Hamilton replied: “Oh, there’s something I need to tell you…”

Appearing on BBC Radio 4, Wolff has shed more light on the nature of his conversation with Hamilton, who claimed that both parties would benefit from his move to Ferrari.

And he believes Hamilton clarified his position early on to buy Mercedes time when it came to identifying his replacement, with teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli confirmed as his successor at the Italian Grand Prix.

Wolff said: “He has been one of the key people in my professional and personal life in the last 12 years.

“We joined the team together but, at the same time, we didn’t really know what to expect from each other and we went through a tremendous spell of success but also difficult times, like in any relationship.

“I heard the noises that there was this possibility that he was leaving, but we met in my house in Oxford and he basically said: ‘This is a step I feel is good for all of us. It’s good for me to reinvent myself – every driver wants to be in a Ferrari – and good for the Mercedes team too, because we’ve been with each other for for 12 years, so maybe we’re kind of reinvigorating ourselves.’

“That’s when he told me initially.

“Obviously, it was a bit of a surprise because it was at the beginning of the season, which is highly unusual, but also I think where he came from was a sense of fairness to say: ‘Listen, I’m going to tell you very early. It may be awkward during the season, but it’s so you can position the team and yourself for the years to come.’”

Speaking after his last race for Mercedes at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix earlier this month, Hamilton admitted his final season with the team contained “lots of turbulence” and “lots of ups and downs” with a number of trusted colleagues.

And he confessed to being touched by the warm goodbye he received from the team, describing his time at Mercedes as “the honour of my life.”

Asked if his move to Ferrari has sunk in yet, he told Channel 4: “It hasn’t, honestly.

“I remember at the beginning of the year when I was printing off the contract and couldn’t believe that it was actually happening.

“It’s been a really, really, really long year. Tough to firstly go with the announcement and then obviously the relationship.

“Lots of turbulence, lots of ups and downs with people that I’ve been working with for many, many years.

“Managing that was really, really, really tough through the whole year. There’s so many people and it’s affected everybody.

“To go through this low, turbulent time and then come back and get to a point here where love just comes through.

“Beyond the upset and people [saying] ‘I can’t imagine you in red’ to now just [saying to me] ‘I wish you all the best, thank you so much for everything we’ve done’ and tears.

“It’s really beautiful. Honestly, I’m forever grateful to this team, every member that’s here, every member back in the factory, it’s been the honour of my life to be a part of it.”

He laughed: “I can’t believe that I’m going to be in red next year. It looks good on me, so hopefully I can make that work.”