The F1 world completely shifted on Thursday. The news of Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari for the 2025 Formula season got the sports industry agog. Ferrari stated on Thursday evening that seven-time world champion Hamilton will join the team on a multi-year contract beginning next season. Reports claim he will earn over $100 million annually at Ferrari, making him the highest-paid F1 driver ever.
The seven-time world champion is the most successful driver in Formula One history, with 103 victories and 104 pole positions. Michael Schumacher is the only other driver who has won seven world titles. Hamilton joined Mercedes from McLaren in 2013 and has won six world championships. He has not won a race since December 2021.
According to reports, Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari follows several years of discontent with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. The British driver used a release option in his contract last year, indicating he was looking for a fresh challenge.
Your 2025 line-up for Scuderia Ferrari! 🤯🤩#F1 @ScuderiaFerrari pic.twitter.com/EUBpsTnVue
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 1, 2024
To all Formula One fans, you can agree that no one anticipated this coming, particularly Hamilton’s move to a rival team, which is already changing the driver landscape of F1. However, this is not the first time we’ve seen prominent stars in sports join rival teams.
Within twenty-four hours after the statement was published, I analyzed social media to gauge fans’ reactions about this significant shift using the SMLC’s Sprinklr. The analysis showed that the conversations generated over 113,225 mentions and reached over 799 million, a positive sentiment score of 73.49%, while negative had 26.51%.
Aside from the positive reactions to the conversations, one distinct thing was the sudden rise of Ferrari’s shares in the stock market. It gained $43.53, or 13%, in New York trading on Thursday to close at $389.45 a share, adding over $7 billion to its market cap. Despite some fans being happy about the move and expressing their loyalty to Hamilton irrespective of which team he joins, some saw this as a betrayal.
1. Ferrari's shares gained $43.53, or 13%, in New York trading on Thursday to close at $389.45 a share.
— BFM News (@NewsBFM) February 2, 2024
This added over $7 billion to its market cap.
This comes as Ferrari's Formula 1 team announced that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract. https://t.co/TC1esXQnCh pic.twitter.com/9PwlrlICQi
Lewis Hamilton had an incredible run at Mercedes.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) February 1, 2024
The Mercedes F1 team received about 25% of all TV time during its championship-winning seasons, and its valuation increased from $400 million to $2.7 billion.
Now, Hamilton is signing with Ferrari & the stock is up 7% premarket. pic.twitter.com/8EFU40iRag
good luck lewis hamilton pic.twitter.com/kIIYZMaJVt
— ؘ (@crlsnz) February 1, 2024
@SkepeMatsebane @ThabisoTema look at what Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has done to the Ferrari Stocks in juts one day. Big Loss for Mercedes #POWERBreakfast pic.twitter.com/gz7kyz3L6O
— Asko (@askoqbk) February 2, 2024
Lewis Hamilton fans moving to Ferrari pic.twitter.com/tJuRmJNw6y
— The Instigator (@Am_Blujay) February 1, 2024
Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has undeniably altered the course of Formula 1, leaving a lasting impact on the sport’s landscape. As fans come to terms with this unexpected shift, the 2025 season promises to be one of the most eagerly anticipated and closely watched in recent memory. Following this development, the next question for Mercedes is who will replace Hamilton.
Author: Bowale Odukale
