Add Category
Lewis Hamilton will complete arguably the most sensational team switch in Formula 1 history at the end of the season, leaving Mercedes to sign with Ferrari.
Hamilton, who has won six of his seven F1 drivers' championships with Mercedes, signed an extension through to 2025 with Mercedes during the middle of last season.
However, a clause to leave the team at the end of 2024 has been invoked, with the all-time leader in race wins, podiums and pole positions making the move to the famed Italian team based in Maranello.
"I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I'm so proud of what we have achieved together," Hamilton said.
"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."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said in a statement he knew the partnership with Hamilton would one day end, praising the Briton as "an important part of Mercedes motorsport history".
"In terms of a team-driver pairing, our relationship with Lewis has become the most successful the sport has seen, and that's something we can look back on with pride," Wolff said.
"We accept Lewis's decision to seek a fresh challenge, and our opportunities for the future are exciting to contemplate. But for now, we still have one season to go, and we are focused on going racing to deliver a strong 2024."
Hamilton will be paired with Charles Leclerc, meaning Spaniard Carlos Sainz will make way for the British star.
Hamilton moved to Mercedes in 2013 after racing for McLaren in his first six F1 seasons.
At the time, Mercedes had recently joined F1 as a works team, and Hamilton's signing was a signal of its intent to challenge the dominance Red Bull had enjoyed with Sebastian Vettel.
From 2014 to 2020, Hamilton would win all but one drivers' championship, finishing second in 2016 to teammate Nico Rosberg.
Mercedes won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships from 2014 to 2021, with their streak ended by Red Bull, spearheaded by Max Verstappen.
Ferrari has not won a championship since the 2008 season when it secured the constructors' title in a tight battle with McLaren.
Hamilton, then driving for McLaren, beat Ferrari's Felipe Massa by one point in the 2008 drivers' championship.
Kimi Räikkönen's drivers' championship in 2007 was the last time a Ferrari driver won that title.
Hamilton is level with Michael Schumacher for the most drivers' championships, with seven.
He controversially missed out on an eighth title in 2021 when he was passed by Max Verstappen on the final lap of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Friday.