Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari is the “best thing” for F1, says Red Bull taskmaster Helmut Marko

Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko believes Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari is the 'best thing' in the current F1 scenario.

It was earlier made official that Lewis Hamilton would be leaving Mercedes post the 2024 season to race with Ferrari from 2025. This surprise announcement came ahead of the season and has prompted discussions on the move.

Talking to sport.de about Lewis Hamilton's shift to Ferrari, Dr Helmut Marko of Red Bull stated that it was "the best" move under the current circumstances in F1.

"This is the best thing that could have happened to Formula 1 at the moment," he stated.

Furthermore, Marko feels that Hamilton has decided to move teams because of his "fascination" with Ferrari and because he had "lost faith" with Mercedes in the past two seasons.

The latter has been analyzed to be a major reason for the Brit's move. Hamilton has not won a single race since the Saudi Arabian GP in 2021, and Mercedes too, has managed to bring in only one victory in the past two seasons.

Although Mercedes were the runners-up in 2023, Ferrari was only three points behind. Also, they had a much better developmental trajectory than Mercedes.

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Mercedes reportedly eyeing junior F2 driver as Lewis Hamilton's replacement

There have been multiple drivers from the current F1 grid that have emerged as potential replacements for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. The team, however, is known for recruiting young and talented drivers. George Russell's signing in 2022 was a major example of this.

Mercedes has been reportedly watching out for one of their junior drivers, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, to race from the 2025 season after Lewis Hamilton's exit. He will be skipping Formula 3 and making his Formula 2 debut in 2024 with Prema Racing.

Talking about him, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was seemingly impressed.

"Kimi’s been with Mercedes since he was 11 and he’s been in the junior programme and his junior career was very successful," PlanetF1 quoted Wolff as saying.

"I think [what is] most important on that stage is that he concentrates on F2. I think if we start to spin his mind or unleash rumours in the media onto him, that’s not going to help his F2 campaign. He’s just stepped out of karts a few years ago and he’s not even 18. So I would rather not start any speculation about Kimi going into Formula 1 at that stage," he added.

While there has been no official statement from the team regarding Lewis Hamilton's replacement in 2025, Antonelli looks like a strong candidate.