Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari 'might get tricky' according to Mercedes director

Mercedes technical director James Allison claimed that Lewis Hamilton's stay at Ferrari might get tricky if he puts himself above the iconic team. After spending more than a decade with Mercedes, the seven-time world champion would be joining the Italian team at the beginning of the 2025 season.

His move to the prancing horses shocked everyone in motorsport as he had signed a new contract with the former world champions in August 2023 that saw him race for them until the end of 2025. However, the British driver invoked a release clause and ended the partnership a year earlier than he had initially agreed to.

While appearing on the podast Beyond the Grid, Allison, who has worked with Ferrari previously, spoke about the challenges that Lewis Hamilton could potentially face in his first year with them. He said:

"I think it might get tricky. At Ferrari, the Ferrari is the star and I think every driver who's driven there at some level or other has had to come to terms with that. If Lewis actually embraces that and loves it in the way that Michael did then there is space for both to to be great. If he doesn't then I think the brand and the Ferrari will always dominate."

Allison also stated that he wasn't entirely surprised by Lewis Hamilton leaving the German team and going to Ferrari due to the nature of the contract offered by the former world champions to him.

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Mercedes director talks about the 'predictable' Lewis Hamilton switch

According to Mercedes' technical director, the 39-year-old driver was offered a 1+1 deal in August 2023 instead of his desired 2+1 as they wanted to keep their options open. Allison mentioned on Beyond The Grid that therefore, Hamilton's move did not catch him unaware, although the manner of the news breaking did.

He said:

"I was surprised at how it happened, the timing of it, but I was aware of the nature of the contract we'd offered, and the nature of the contract we'd offered permitted that to happen. So if it then happened, we shouldn't be surprised because that was explicitly a thing that we were prepared to happen or else we wouldn't have put it as an option in the contract."

During their 12-year partnership, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes won 82 races from 2013 to 2021, along with eight consecutive Constructors Championships and six Drivers Championships. The duo are statistically the most successful driver-team partnership in F1 history.

Although Hamilton's move to Ferrari was announced earlier this season, Mercedes are yet to announce the seven-time world champion's replacement.