Lewis Hamilton kept his move from the Mercedes Formula 1 team to Ferrari a secret, even hiding the move from his parents.
“I didn’t talk to anyone. I didn’t tell my parents until the day it was announced. So nobody knew,” Hamilton told the BBC podcast Return to base February 21, according to the Associated Press. “I really wanted to do it for myself. In the end, I had to find out what would be best for me.”
All about Lewis Hamilton’s parents, Anthony Hamilton and Carmen Larbalestier
The decorated F1 driver, 39, made the surprise announcement that he would be moving to Ferrari at the end of the 2024 racing season earlier this month, releasing a statement alongside Mercedes.
“I’ve spent an incredible 11 years with this team and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved together,” Hamilton said in a statement shared by Mercedes, adding that Mercedes “has been a part of my life since I was 13. .”
Hamilton said Return to base that he relied on his “intuition and [his] heart” to help him make the decision to change teams.
“I mean, the opportunity just presented itself and I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to think for a second,'” Hamilton said. “I didn’t have much time to think and I just had to act on my gut feeling and I decided to take the chance.”
Lewis Hamilton made a shocking F1 switch from Mercedes to Ferrari: ‘The time is right’
Even Hamilton’s colleagues from the Mercedes team did not warn too much about his departure. On Return to basehe revealed that he had told racer Toto Wolff that he was leaving the team just a day before the announcement.
“It happened very quickly and actually, I knew Fred [ Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal] a long time,” he said, per Sports Illustrated. “And for me, I was excited for the new year, but not knowing what the future holds and not knowing how long I’ll be racing, but knowing that I feel super motivated and excited to keep racing.”
The F1 record holder’s parents, Anthony Hamilton and Carmen Larbalestier, supported his racing career and helped nurture his skills from an early age. Anthony took Hamilton on his first go-kart ride when he was 3 years old. At the age of 10, Hamilton won his first British karting title.
Lewis Hamilton with his parents, Anthony Hamilton and Carmen Larbalestier.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Jon Furniss/WireImage
Hamilton was candid about how his family struggled to support him in the races – Anthony worked multiple jobs to support him financially and his family traveled from his hometown of Stevenage, England, across the UK to the races every weekend.
When he writes about his family’s decision to help him enter the world of racing in his 2007 autobiography. Lewis Hamilton: My StoryHamilton wrote, “Honestly, I don’t think I would be where I am today if my parents and step-parents hadn’t worked so hard together.” Hamilton is set to begin his final season for Mercedes at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.
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