Hamilton, Formula One’s Most Decorated Driver Ever, Signs for Ferrari: These Are Top 5 Most Epic F1 Deal Stories in History

For the Formula 1 season of 2025, Lewis Hamilton will go from Mercedes and sign with Ferrari, completing the transfer that sent shockwaves through the sports world at the start of 2024.

After this season, Hamilton will leave Mercedes, where his contract was set to expire at the end of 2025, to take Carlos Sainz Jr’s seat at Ferrari.

The seven-time world champion will arrive at Ferrari on a “multi-year” contract, the Italian constructor said on Thursday night (February 1). The British driver had triggered a release option in his Mercedes contract. Next year, Charles Leclerc will be a teammate to Hamilton at Ferrari after he inked an extension with the Italian racing team last week.

Ferrari Wanted Hamilton Even Last Summer

With 103 victories and 104 pole positions, Hamilton is the most accomplished driver in Formula One history. The only other driver with seven world titles is Michael Schumacher.

After leaving McLaren in 2013, Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 and captured six world titles with the team. He hasn’t won a race since December 2021 though. He was wanted by Ferrari for this season, but he and George Russell, his Mercedes teammate, agreed to a new two-year arrangement this past summer that would keep them there until the conclusion of 2025.

The Bahrain Grand Prix, from February 29 to March 2, will kick off the 2024 Formula One season wherein Red Bull is the favorite to win a third consecutive world constructor championship, which is confirmed with current odds at online bookies with no deposit bonuses that help players to build up their bankrolls so that they can eventually make larger bets.

Most Famous Driver Battles Over Contracts in Formula One History

Despite the lack of drama surrounding Hamilton’s switch from Mercedes to Ferrari, Bookmaker Expert was nonetheless motivated to comb through archives and examine some of the most infamous contract sagas in the history of the best international racing competition.

There they are, listed chronologically:

Jean Alesi, 1990

Jean Alesi’s career was soaring in early 1990 after he made his racing debut with Tyrrell in the middle of 1989. His incredible potential was demonstrated by two podium finishes in his first four races.

In 1991, Frank Williams made the decision to hire Alesi as a team driver after deciding he liked his driving style. The Frenchman signed a contract to drive for Ferrari, but the club delayed announcing his signing since Williams was also attempting to get Ayrton Senna. Following a tug-of-war, Ferrari had to compensate Williams $4 million; yet, Alesi believed that this was the right decision because Ferrari had finished ahead of Williams in 1990.

But Alesi would find the ensuing years to be discouraging as Ferrari lost its competitive edge.

Michael Schumacher, 1991

The Jordan team, which was only getting started, decided to go with Michael Schumacher, a Mercedes sportscar protégé, for the Belgian Grand Prix after Bertrand Gachot was strangely imprisoned halfway through the 1991 season.

The young German driver didn’t have high expectations going into the race, but he surprised everyone by starting his Jordan 191 four positions ahead of veteran teammate Andrea De Cesaris at Spa-Francorchamps. Schumacher’s race would come to an end on Lap 1 with a broken clutch, but he was suddenly a hot asset. Despite a deal between Jordan and Mercedes that would have kept Schumacher racing for the Irish team, Benetton took advantage of some vague formulation in that contract to break in and sign him up just in time for the Italian Grand Prix just two weeks later.

Although team manager Flavio Briatore may have made an impulsive and opportunistic move, Schumacher quickly established himself as the best driver of his generation, winning World Championships with Benetton in 1994 and 1995 before joining Ferrari. It was one of the most brilliant signings in Formula One history. He added five more championships there, solidifying his status as one of the greatest drivers in history.

Jenson Button, 2004

Following his 2000 F1 debut with Williams, Button established himself as one of the sport’s most promising talents. In 2004, the British driver discovered that he really liked BAR’s 006 and went on to finish third in the Drivers’ Championship with 10 podium finishes. Despite having a great year, Button decided to rejoin Williams for 2005, having committed to the Grove-based team in the middle of 2004. This action infuriated BAR, who maintained that they had a 2005 option on Button’s services. The F1 Contracts Recognition Board upheld this decision, forcing Button to continue with BAR for another season.

Despite signing a pre-contract with Williams to compete for them in 2006, Button seemed to lose interest in the team during their 2005 downturn and felt it would be better to go with BAR, which was going to become the Honda working team in 2006. Finally, Button’s 2006 contract with the team was terminated by Williams only after a massive settlement payment of approximately £18 million.

Giedo van der Garde, 2015

While it’s understandable that two teams would compete for a single driver, what if one team signed three drivers for the two open seats? Sauber experienced precisely that on the eve of the 2015 Australian Grand Prix.

The two drivers for the Swiss team for 2015 were to be Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson, who were announced at the close of 2014. Everything appeared normal at that point. However, a few weeks prior to the Australian race, Sauber’s 2014 reserve driver Giedo van der Garde threw a wrench in the works by asserting that he was entitled to a racing place for 2015.

The argument carried over into the race weekend when the Supreme Court of Victoria decided that van der Garde should compete for Sauber. As a result, the team was ordered to skip the first practice in order to avoid being found in contempt of court. The Dutchman had to concede the next day and let Ericsson and Nasr participate, but Sauber had to give van der Garde a settlement of about $16 million to break their deal.

Oscar Piastri, 2022

In the most recent F1 contractual drama, Piastri—a three-time junior world champion in a row—was named Alpine’s reserve driver for 2022 in lieu of Fernando Alonso, who transferred to Aston Martin the same July. But the Australian issued a statement, announcing that he wouldn’t be driving for Alpine in 2023, only two hours after Alpine had confirmed him. Instead, Piastri had inked a contract to replace the underwhelming Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren in 2023.

In actuality, Piastri never had an Alpine Formula 1 deal for 2023. Yes, he had in fact signed a deal in November 2021 with the team situated in the UK. Importantly, though, this agreement was made between Piastri and Alpine’s Driver Academy rather than the Formula One team, which theoretically means McLaren could work out an arrangement with the Australian to have him compete for them in 2023.