Mercedes, undoubtedly have the best driver line up going into the 2024 season but now face a driver crisis after Lewis Hamiltons shock move to Ferrari.
Finlay Mcsporran
Published: 16:57, 4 Feb 2024
Hamilton shocked the world last Thursday when he announced his departure from Mercedes at the end of the season. Having joined the team in 2013 Hamilton went onto win a ridiculous 82 races and 6 world championships for the silver arrows, however this momentum came to a grinding halt after the 2022 regulation changes, with Hamilton failing to take a single victory for the team since then.
This would’ve been a major reason for his move to Ferrari, with Hamilton himself saying that “the time is right to make a change”. This leaves Mercedes with the task of finding someone to replace the 7 time champion as this years silly season gets underway.
In this article we’ll discuss the possible options Mercedes have as well as other potential transfers as a result of this move.
Carlos Sainz
This is definitely the most straight forward option for Mercedes, given that Hamilton will be replacing Sainz at Ferrari and so a driver swap between the teams makes sense. After all Sainz was the only non-Redbull driver to win a race last year, and so having an experienced race winner at the team could prove useful as Mercedes look to get back to winning ways.
Fernando Alonso
Alonso would certainly be the closest like to like replacement for Hamilton, and at the age of 42 shows no signs of slowing down as he took 8 podiums on his way to 4th in the standings last year. While he enjoyed fighting at the front last year, Aston Martins pace fell off massively towards the second have off the season, and so Mercedes could prove a far more consistent option for the two time world champion.
Kimi Antionelli
Antionelli was originally the man supposed to replace Lewis Hamilton but it was never meant to be this early. His junior career is already well documented but the Italian hasn’t even started a Formula 2 race yet and so the prospect of him joining Mercedes next year is a bit of a stretch.
But if he does well enough in F2 this year then Mercedes might take the gamble and give him a seat for the 2025 season. After all, Lewis Hamilton started his career of at the front of the grid with McLaren, taking a podium in just his first race.
Other Options
There are plenty of other potential options for Mercedes as well, with Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly sticking out as both of them are race winners and currently don’t have a contract for next year. Lots of other names have been thrown around by fans such as Alex Albon, Mick Schumacher and even Sebastian Vettel who could come out of retirement to race for Mercedes, similar to how Michael Schumacher came back in 2010 to race for the team.
But the truth is that no one can truly replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. Hamilton helped them win a record braking 8 constructors titles in a row from 2014-2021 and over time they became arguably the best driver/team combination that F1 has ever seen. All Mercedes can do now is find someone to keep Hamilton’s seat warm until Antionelli is ready to make the step up, and hope that he lives up to the Hype.
Other News
In other news, it was announced on Thursday that Ferrari junior driver Oliver Bearman will participate in six FP1 sessions with Haas throughout 2024 as the team look to be setting him up for a full time seat come 2025.
It was also announced that he would become Ferraris test and Reserve driver alongside Arthur Leclerc, brother of Charles.
2024 has already provided us with plenty of drama before we’ve even hit the track. To keep up with it all, follow us on Instagram @bloggp_8 and sign up to our newsletter to receive the latest news from the motorsports world.
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