Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes decide against early release to ‘end relationship the right way’

Lewis Hamilton’s first appearance for Ferrari is likely to be in a 2022 machine at the start of next year, with the driver and Mercedes having “jointly decided” against the seven-time world champion taking part in the post-season tyre test in Abu Dhabi for the Scuderia.

Ferrari had hoped that Hamilton, 39, might be released from his contract with Mercedes to take part in the Abu Dhabi test. But Hamilton will be in Kuala Lumpur honouring a long-standing commitment to the team’s title sponsors, Petronas.

Team sources suggested Hamilton and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff did discuss whether it might be feasible to switch plans, but jointly decided it would be better to honour that appearance, and other end-of-year obligations back in the UK, in order to “end the relationship in the right way”.

It is understood that no official request was put in by Hamilton to exit his contract early. Indeed, he is said to be excited about his first scheduled outing in a Ferrari at the Fiorano track, which is right next to the team’s Maranello headquarters.

Hamilton, the most successful driver in the history of the sport, is joining Ferrari next year after 12 seasons with Mercedes – and 18 with the German manufacturer’s engines.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur told Autosport that the provisional plan to get Hamilton up to speed was to make use of one or two of the Scuderia’s Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) days.

Formula One’s TPC rules allow teams to run cars that were “designed and constructed in order to comply with the technical regulations of any of the three calendar years falling immediately prior to the calendar year preceding the year of the championship”. This means Hamilton will likely make his debut in a 2022 Ferrari, the first designed for the new era of ground-effect regulations.

“I’m not sure that he needs tons of hours of acclimatisation,” Vasseur said. “He is experienced enough to be quick on the first day, or at least very soon. We’ll have one or two TPC days, plus the [pre-season] test in Bahrain, and that will be enough.

“For sure we have part of the team already focusing on ’25, on the test plan, on the communication and so on, with Lewis being part of this. But not on the race team and it’s not on my mind.”

Hamilton is being replaced in the Mercedes line-up by 18-year-old rookie Kimi Antonelli, who will drive alongside Briton George Russell.

Malone, 83, to take charge of F1 owner

Meanwhile, Formula One owner Liberty Media has announced that its president and chief executive Greg Maffei will leave his role at the end of the year. The 64-year-old became CEO in 2006 and oversaw the firm’s acquisition of F1 in 2017.

Maffei will be replaced on an interim basis by Liberty Media’s chairman and largest voting shareholder, 83-year-old John Malone.