© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
At Red Bull’s 2024 car launch, Max Verstappen said the early announcement of Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 move to Ferrari was due to the story being ‘leaked’.
The world was shocked when it was announced that Lewis Hamilton would leave Mercedes at the end of 2024, to join Ferrari in 2025.
The timing of the announcement was also a surprise, as it’s relatively unusual to announce a driver’s departure a full year before it’s actually going to happen.
At Red Bull’s 2024 car launch, Max Verstappen said he believes the announcement was made in January of 2024 because the story got ‘leaked’.
“Seeing him go to Ferrari . . . it’s not a surprise,” the Dutch driver said.
“If that’s your goal as a kid, or your dream, then you go, right?
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“I think it must have been leaked because to announce something that big that early in the season… I think for sure, for the rest of the year, I would say it’s a little bit awkward.
“Even though you have had a lot of success together, you can’t be included into everything any more,” Verstappen concluded.
The story of Hamilton going to Ferrari did break in the Italian media, and later on the same day the official announcement was made.
Whether the announcement was rushed because the teams involved were aware that the story would be revealed in the media, or it was the original plan all along, will likely remain a mystery.
