The news that Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025 came as a shock even to Formula 1 insiders and fellow drivers. In fact it was a brilliant coup engineered by Maranello team principal Frédéric Vasseur, one of the most efficient operators in the sport, and probably the only man who could have pulled off such a feat.

A relationship and high level of mutual respect that stretches back 20 years enabled Vasseur to convince Hamilton to make the jump. Could his immediate predecessors Marco Mattiacci, Maurizio Arrivabene or Mattia Binotto have done the same, even with a strong technical package to offer? The answer has to be no.

The 55-year-old Vasseur is a hugely respected figure in the paddock, and a close friend of the likes of Toto Wolff and recently deposed fellow team principals Guenther Steiner and Otmar Szafnauer. In a dog-eat-dog world he’s regarded as one of the good guys, and a pukka racer.

That doesn’t mean he can’t make ruthless calls such as dropping Carlos Sainz and stealing Hamilton from under the nose of his pal Wolff.

“I have great respect for Fred,” said the Austrian when Motor Sport asked about Vasseur’s coup. “Not only as a racing manager, but also as a long-time friend. But when he took the role in Ferrari, it was clear that he needs to do the best he can for Ferrari, and use every opportunity in order to do that.

“So there is no bad feeling towards Fred trying to get the best employees, the best drivers. So that has no effect on the relationship. It is a tough competition. It is a cut-throat environment. And as much as I try to do the best for our group, he will do that for Ferrari.

“It’s a little bit like rugby. We punch each other in the nose, but we are able to get off the pitch and have a respectful relationship.”

“Hamilton first came across Vasseur in 2004 in the F3 Euro Series”

Hamilton first came across Vasseur in 2004, his first year in the FIA F3 Euro Series. He’d graduated in tandem with his Formula Renault team, John Booth’s Manor Motorsport outfit. Vasseur ran pacesetting rivals ASM, and was a familiar face around the paddock.

By his standards Hamilton had a difficult rookie year with a team that was new to the series, winning at the Norisring street venue, and finishing fifth in the championship.

Despite his good relationship with Manor he felt that he had to move on for 2005. ASM drivers Jamie Green and Alexandre Prémat had finished first and second in the championship, and the French racing team seemed like the logical destination.

Backer McLaren gave Hamilton the freedom to choose where he went. He gave an intriguing insight into how he made his choice in the only book he has ever put his name to, Lewis Hamilton: My Story, published after his 2008 F1 title success.

“We analysed all the different options and teams in GP2 and Formula 3,” he noted. “I selected the teams that I was interested in, and to help me form my own opinion I went to all of them with a notepad and pen, as a 19-year-old, and asked them how they could help me win.

“Once we had decided what was the best option McLaren brokered an agreement with the then current F3 Euro Series champions ASM. ASM was run and owned by Frédéric Vasseur. Frédéric is an incredible man, and it was an absolutely fantastic team to work for.”

In a field that included the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Lucas di Grassi and Paul di Resta Hamilton had an absolutely dominant season, scoring 172 points to the 94 of German team-mate and championship runner-up Adrian Sutil. He clearly bonded with his ASM colleagues, and especially with Vasseur.

“I learned so much from them,” he noted. “They were the ones who gave me the opportunity to learn how to set the car up and do what I do now in Formula 1. It was great, the best year of my life outside of F1. I won 15 races out of 20.”

The next step was GP2, where ASM had been rebranded as ART GP for its entry into the series in 2005. Despite being up against teams that had transitioned from the old F3000 and in theory should have had an advantage Vasseur won the category’s inaugural title with Nico Rosberg, who was propelled straight into F1 with Williams.

Hamilton took over the German’s seat for 2006. Despite others having more GP2 experience Hamilton started the season in great style under Vasseur’s wing, scoring a feature/sprint double in the third round at the Nürburgring, and then winning in Monaco. Another sensational double victory at Silverstone was the highlight of his season. But as the year progressed there was an ongoing debate between Hamilton, his father/manager Anthony and the McLaren management.

“During the season I remember speaking to Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh and saying, ‘I want to do F1 next year, I think I’m ready,” Lewis explained in his book. “They gave me no indication this might be possible but said I just had to do the job.

“I had to win, so you can understand the amount of pressure that I was under at the time. There was a spot that I thought had my name on it, and I worked as hard as I could to get it. I kept telling Ron and Martin, ‘Next year I’m going to be ready for F1, I promise.”

It was against that background that Vasseur kept Hamilton on the path to the title. It wasn’t easy, and he didn’t win after Silverstone, but a run of second places saw him beat main rival Nelson Piquet Jr, who was in his second year in the category.

“I remember that both my dad and I had no idea what was going to happen the following year or whether I would reach F1 or have to go elsewhere,” he said. “I was performing well at that time, and I was leading the GP2 championship. My dad remained calm about my future prospects and that gave me a huge amount of confidence even though I still wanted that confirmation from McLaren.”

In the end Dennis took the plunge and put the youngster in a race seat alongside Fernando Alonso for 2007. Vasseur had done his job in helping to get him there.

Inevitably drivers who move up the ranks lose touch with those who helped them in their early careers. However as a GP2 team boss Vasseur was a regular presence in the F1 paddock through Hamilton’s McLaren years.

They had more chance to stay in contact after Hamilton’s move to Mercedes in 2013. Vasseur was a part of the wider Stuttgart racing family, running DTM cars for the manufacturer, and as a close friend of Wolff he was a regular visitor to the F1 hospitality unit.

In 2016 Vasseur made a full-time move to the F1 paddock with Renault, but it was an unhappy season, and he left at the end of it.

However he returned in the middle of 2017 with a new role as Sauber team principal. Over the next five years he did a great job to build up an organisation that had been on the verge of collapse, securing Alfa Romeo backing and playing a big role in convincing Audi to buy the team for its F1 entry in 2026.

He also persuaded both former world champion Kimi Räikkönen and Valtteri Bottas – who had driven for him in GP3 – to come on board. Those signings were an indication of the respect and trust that Vasseur engenders in drivers in a business full of people who would sell their own grandmothers.

Vasseur’s leadership qualities had not gone unnoticed by Sauber partner Ferrari, and when the management wanted to make a change in 2022 he was hired in place of Binotto.

Inevitably it wasn’t long before the paddock grapevine suggested that he was trying to tempt Hamilton to Maranello.

Understandably still smarting after losing the 2021 title on the last lap of the season, Hamilton has endured two difficult seasons with Mercedes under the new high downforce regulations. Last year he made clear his frustration at the lack of change to the car’s concept and ongoing poor form.

Nevertheless in August he signed up for what was announced at the time as a firm two-year contract, taking him to the end of 2025 and the final season of the current power unit regulations. It was logical to keep his options open beyond that, given the rule changes. In addition he would be turning 41 at the start of 2026, and he was perhaps reluctant to make a longer commitment.

“Wolff was presumably confident that Hamilton had nowhere to go”

The contract extension seemed to put an end to any speculation about a Hamilton move to Ferrari. What we didn’t know was that the small print left wriggle room for him to get out of the second year and move elsewhere in 2025. Wolff was presumably confident that Hamilton had nowhere to go.

Vasseur’s special relationship with Hamilton made the difference, although Stellantis and Ferrari chairman John Elkann also played a role in romancing Lewis, the youthful 47-year-old providing a stark contrast with old school predecessors Luca di Montezemolo and Sergio Marchionne.

“It’s a huge opportunity for the team,” says Vasseur of Hamilton. “We are sure that he will bring us a decent step for the future. I think it will be a good challenge for everybody. You know that we have had a good relationship for more than 20 years. We were always going back to speak about different things. And I think it came naturally, step-by-step.”

This is a different Ferrari to the team Hamilton had raced against for most of his career, run by people that he can trust, a trait that has always been important to him.

Vasseur aside, there will be few familiar other faces at Maranello, but Hamilton does know his former Mercedes engineer Jock Clear, currently focused on Ferrari’s junior drivers, while communications boss Silvia Hoffer is a colleague from his McLaren days. Brackley performance director Loic Serra is also on his way to Ferrari.

“I have no doubt that Fred will be able to have a very good relationship with Lewis as his boss,” said Wolff. “They’ve known each other for years, he’s raced in ART. Fred understands a racing driver’s mind. He does things very differently to me. But he’s very successful, like his track record shows.”

There are many elements to Hamilton’s decision. In late 2012 he surprised the F1 world by leaving McLaren for Mercedes, a team that was fifth in the constructors’ championship. However Ross Brawn and Niki Lauda convinced him that the 2014 hybrid package would be the one to beat, and so it proved.

No one knows how the new power units will stack up in 2026, but Ferrari has as good a chance as anyone of getting it right, and with new hirings on the way Vasseur clearly convinced Hamilton that the overall package will be a strong one.

Hamilton hardly needs the money, but he’s also well aware of his market value, and Ferrari and its sponsors are sure to be giving him what he wants. He’s already one of the biggest brands in world sport, and combining that with the Ferrari name and sending millions more fans his way can only be a plus as he edges towards a post-driving career.

However, the bottom line is that his Ferrari debut will be his 19th season, and significantly, he’s done it without a break. Other champions who sustained long careers, Räikkönen, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, all took breaks that gave them a second wind. Hamilton has been flat out. To have sustained the career he has had at the level he consistently competes at is nothing short of remarkable.

It’s thus no surprise that with his 40th birthday fast approaching he sees Ferrari as a fresh challenge, one that will supercharge his levels of motivation as he heads into the final years of his career. It’s that simple.

“I still remember the feeling of taking a leap of faith into the unknown when I first joined Mercedes,” he noted in an Instagram post after the Ferrari news was announced. “I know some people didn’t understand it at the time, but I was right to make the move then, and it’s the feeling I have again now. I’m excited to see what I can bring to this new opportunity, and what we can do together.”