Sergio Perez anticipates that, considering the magnitude of the seven-time world champion’s departure, Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari in 2025 will make for exciting viewing.
The most talked-about moment of the winter break was undoubtedly Lewis Hamilton’s announcement at the beginning of February that he would be switching to Ferrari in 2025. Sergio Perez was particularly interested by the “dynamics” of the transfer.
Hamilton only signed a new deal in August, and as a result, he has activated an exit option. This means that 2024 will be his 12th and final season driving for Mercedes. With this, the 39-year-old’s 13-year-old partnership with the German automaker will come to an end.
Since’silly season’ has begun far earlier than normal, Perez has been directly impacted by Hamilton’s abrupt switch in several ways. Though he’s “not bothered” by the driver market starting so early, Perez is one of 13 drivers on the grid without a contract for 2025.
When asked about Hamilton’s move by RacingNews365, Perez said, “It’s going to be interesting to watch from the outside, but more than that, I think the dynamics.”
“As a driver who moves teams, we all know how envious the other teams are when it comes to information sharing. Lewis has obviously worked at Mercedes for a long time, and he will be transferring a wealth of knowledge to another team.
“So again, there will be some interesting dynamics to watch from the outside.”
The future is self-sufficient.
Perez is no stranger to starting a season without a deal for the following year; he has been through the waiting game before. He was forced to do this in 2020 after Racing Point, which is now known as Aston Martin, decided not to keep him on staff.
After the 2020 season ended, the Red Bull driver did not have a ride for 2021 when he went into winter break. However, at the end of December, he signed a contract with the defending World Champions.
Regarding his future, Perez said, “To be honest, you know how it operates when you’ve been in this business for so long.”
“I’m just a lot less bothered about it, I just want to make sure that I’m able to enjoy it, first of all, have a lot of fun and have that motivation, and the rest will take care of itself.”