Lewis Hamilton’s departure from Mercedes to join Ferrari next season has left a significant void at the Brackley-based team. Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ head of trackside engineering, recently reflected on Hamilton’s memorable impact on the team.
Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes after over a decade for Ferrari created the bombshell of the off-season. His exit comes despite Mercedes showing a strong comeback in 2024, with the team’s W15 upgrades securing wins at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps, marking a return to form after struggles with the W13 and W14.
Reflecting on whether Hamilton could have been persuaded to stay had Mercedes found their form sooner, Shovlin said, ‘I think, if we’d been winning championships, it would have been difficult for Lewis to say no. However, I think his biggest reasons are not necessarily ones of car performance. He clearly wants to have another chapter in his career beyond his very successful one with Mercedes.’
Shovlin highlighted that Hamilton’s desire for a new challenge influenced his decision more than just car performance. ‘He’s of an age where, if he was going to do that, he would need to do it sooner rather than later. As I said, if we were dominating the championship, I suspect it would have been difficult for him to do that. But I think a big part of Lewis is wanting to have another team and another challenge in his career. I think, when someone’s decided that they want to do that, it can be quite difficult to persuade them otherwise,’ Shovlin stated.
Hamilton’s recent win at Silverstone, beating Max Verstappen, and a series of strong performances have not drastically changed his demeanor, according to Shovlin. ‘I wouldn’t say a drastic change,’ he commented. ‘The bigger one, with both of the drivers, is they’ve recently realized that, if the track’s right, we’ve got a car that can win races. We’ve got a car that, for the last five races, has been fighting for podiums on merit.’
Addressing the impact of Hamilton’s departure on the team, Shovlin remarked, ‘I’ll miss him as a character because he’s good fun to work with. His race pace has been extremely good, but what he brought to the team is an awful lot of speed and a good feel for what the car needs. He is very good at highlighting where the weaknesses are in the car.’
Hamilton’s innate ability to understand the car’s performance and provide valuable feedback has been crucial to Mercedes’ development process. ‘It’s difficult to say what would miss specifically from an engineering point of view – other than he just has this innate feel for what the car’s doing, what the tires are doing, and that’s very valuable when you feed that into the development process,’ Shovlin added.
As Lewis Hamilton prepares for a new chapter at Ferrari, his departure marks the end of an era at Mercedes. While the team will undoubtedly miss his exceptional race pace and invaluable feedback, Hamilton’s legacy will remain a part of Mercedes’ storied history.
