Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok has called Lewis Hamilton's departure from Mercedes to Ferrari a “calculated risk”, while emphasizing that such bold choices have already borne fruit in the past.
Hamilton, who officially joined the Scuderia on January 1, 2025, ends a 12-year partnership with Mercedes, where he won six of his seven world titles. This decision marks a turning point in the career of the seven-time world champion, who could conclude his career in F1 with the emblematic Maranello team.
This is not the first time that Hamilton has opted for a significant transfer. In 2012, he left McLaren, then fighting for the title, to join Mercedes, a team then perceived as mid-grid. A bet that proved to be a winning one.
Reflecting on the seven-time F1 World Champion's decision to leave Mercedes after a far from successful final season, Karun Chandhok told the Sky F1 podcast: 'I think it's a gamble because how do you know what the opposing team was doing? It’s obvious he had an idea of what was going on at Mercedes.”
“He said people weren't necessarily listening to what he was saying and weren't fully considering some of his ideas about the evolution of cars.”
“On reflection, earlier in the year he spoke about some of these conversations. Maybe that directed him to another place where we could listen to him a little more.”
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And transfer McLaren-Mercedes to?
Lewis Hamilton's previous transfer to Formula 1 perfectly illustrates his ability to make bold decisions. When the latter left McLaren to join Mercedes in 2013, the move, widely criticized at the time, proved far more successful than anyone could have imagined.
Upon arrival, Mercedes surpassed McLaren in terms of performance. In all this time, McLaren only returned to the top in 2024, when it managed to win the Constructors' Championship, ahead of Ferrari.
Karun Chandhok highlights this parallel to contextualize the recent departure of Lewis Hamilton to Scuderia Ferrari. According to him, this change recalls the moment when Hamilton dared to turn his back on a historic team for a promising, but uncertain, future.
“It's a calculated risk. It worked once. Let’s see if it happens again”concluded the former F1 driver.
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