Photo: Eustace Bagge via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, cropped.
It's official. Ferrari confirmed on Thursday, February 1 that vegan seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will join them from 2025 on a "multi-year" deal, replacing Carlos Sainz alongside Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton has activated a release clause in his Mercedes contract, which was due to run to the end of 2025, so this season will be his last with the Silver Arrows. Mercedes staff in Brackley were told on Thursday afternoon, shortly before the announcement, Sky Sports reports.
It's one of the biggest moves the sport has ever seen. Hamilton is the most successful driver in F1 history, with 103 wins and 104 pole positions, and he has won six of his seven titles with Mercedes since joining from McLaren in 2013. Only Michael Schumacher has also won seven, five of them in red. At 39, Hamilton now has his sights on a record eighth.
In a statement released by Mercedes, Hamilton said:
I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I'm so proud of what we have achieved together. Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old. It's a place where I have grown up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. But the time is right for me to take this step and I'm excited to be taking on a new challenge.
Hamilton went vegan in 2017. He told the BBC at the time that the cruelty of animal farming and the emissions from the cattle industry made up his mind: "The cruelty is horrible and I don't necessarily want to support that and I want to live a healthier life" (via Wikipedia). That year he won his fourth world title and credited the new diet with part of it, telling Motorsport.com: "I feel the best I have ever felt, physically and mentally."
Two years after that, the vegan F1 driver won his sixth world title and opened a plant-based burger chain. In 2021 he became the first driver to win 100 Grands Prix, and last July he took a record ninth pole in Hungary.
Forza Lewis. Powered by plants.